A study from the Integrated Cancer Center of the Netherlands (IKNL) highlights that about half of the Dutch population could be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. But the risk of dying of cancer has not increased.
In the Netherlands, about half of the Dutch population could be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, according to researchers from the Integrated Cancer Center of the Netherlands (IKNL).
The study, published in the Dutch Journal of Medicine on September 28th, shows that the risk of developing cancer increased to 47% for women and 54% for men compared to 1990, when 1 in 3 Dutch people risked developing cancer. However, the risk of dying from cancer has not increased.
The strong increase is mostly due to better prognosis and the aging of the Dutch population: Cancer is a disease that mostly affects the elderly. Other risk factors are lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol use, being overweight, little exercise, and sun overexposure.
According to the European Commission 2021 Country Health Profile report, lung cancer accounts for around 30% of preventable deaths in the Netherlands, making it the largest contributor to preventable mortality.
Prostate cancer is the main form of cancer among men, while breast cancer is the leading cancer among women. Colorectal and lung cancers are the second and third leading causes of cancer among both sexes.
As of 2023 in the Netherlands, the risk of a prostate cancer diagnosis is the greatest in males. The diagnosis affects approximately 1 in 8 men.
While 1 in 7 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, the risk of dying from breast cancer has fallen to 1 in 30 in 2015–2019, compared to 1 in 22 in 1990. The chance of being diagnosed with lung cancer is 9 percent in men and 7 percent in women.
The risk of lung cancer for men has decreased in the past decades, while for women it has increased. This is mainly due to changes in smoking behavior; while decades ago it was mainly men who smoked, today women smoke about as much as men.
According to the KWF Dutch Cancer Society, one of the preventative goals is tobacco control. There is a strive to create more smoke-free areas and to decrease the number of smokers through awareness and advocacy. In the present day around 20% of the Dutch population smokes.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2023, the Netherlands has implemented all 6 WHO-recommended MPOWER measures: Monitoring, Protecting people from tobacco smoke, Offering help to quit, Warning about the dangers of tobacco, Enforcing bans on advertising, Promotion and sponsorship, and Raising taxes on tobacco.
The Netherlands launched its first National Prevention Agreement in 2018. This encompasses projects that bring together the Dutch government, municipalities and more than 70 other organizations, in support of reducing the burden of smoking, obesity and hazardous alcohol consumption by 2040.
