London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Greenwich 1960
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough.
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30
Lung Cancer.—Throughout the country in recent years there
has been a tendency for cancer of the lung to increase and the
following table has again been included in order that the trend in
this Borough may be studied: —
DEATHS FROM CANCER OF LUNG (including Bronchogenic Carcinoma)
| Year | AGE GROUPS | Totals | Grand Total | Rate per 1,000 Pop. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 and under 45 yrs. | 45 and under 65 yrs. | 65 and under 75 yrs. | 75 and upwards | |||||||||
| M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | |||
| 1950 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 29 | 0.32 |
| 1951 | 1 | — | 26 | 3 | 15 | — | 3 | 3 | 45 | 6 | 51 | 0.57 |
| 1952 | 2 | — | 15 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 31 | 0.34 |
| 1953 | 3 | — | 12 | 4 | 7 | — | 1 | — | 23 | 4 | 27 | 0.29 |
| 1954 | — | — | 21 | 3 | 13 | 5 | 5 | — | 39 | 8 | 47 | 0.52 |
| 1955 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 29 | 6 | 35 | 0.39 |
| 1956 | 1 | — | 29 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 8 | — | 54 | 4 | 58 | 0.65 |
| 1957 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 39 | 7 | 46 | 0.52 |
| 1958 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 5 | 9 | — | 4 | 2 | 36 | 8 | 44 | 0.49 |
| 1959 | — | 1 | 25 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 50 | 0.56 | |
| 10 yr. Average | 1.7 | 0.7 | 22.7 | 3.4 | 11.7 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 1.5 | 7.2 | 41.8 | 0.46 | |
From the preceding table it can be seen that the age group 45
to 65 years is still the period of greatest mortality and deaths in
this group constitute almost half the total deaths attributed to
lung cancer. However the mortality in this group appears to have
become stabilized during the past few years in contrast to the 65
to 75 years section which during the current year has recorded a
54 % increase over the 1959 figure.
In 1948 there were 28 deaths of Greenwich residents from
cancer of the lung, approximately one half of the total registered
for pulmonary tuberculosis, viz. 62. During the current year,
figures of 63 and 4 respectively have been recorded showing that