Colon cancer most common in Western Norway

Nurse.Photo: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX NB Modellklarert.

For the first time, over 3,000 cases of colon cancer have been registered in Norway, and the largest incidence of this type of cancer is in Western Norway.

 

‘We sometimes call it ‘oilseed’ because it is a cancer that has increased since we found oil in the early 70’s. It’s a cancer associated with unhealthy lifestyles, but first and foremost, those who are affected have had terribly bad luck,’ said Director of the Cancer Registry, Giske Ursin, to NRK news.

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer form for men, and the second most frequent for women. The Cancer Register presented the new figures on Monday, showing that the incidence of colon cancer continued to increase slightly in 2016.

The numbers show that the three western counties, Sogn and Fjordane, Møre and Romsdal, and Hordaland, where people are most affected by this form of cancer, where between 60 and 65 per 100,000 inhabitants are affected. By
comparison, in Hedmark, the figure is between 40 and 45.

‘We have no good explanation. Five years ago, figures were high in Rogaland, and now a little further north in Western Norway. But we have no good reason to believe that the lifestyle is less healthy in Western Norway than in the rest of the country,’ said Ursin.

Colon cancer is known to show a correlationship with consumption of cured meat such as salami, sausage, and ham, though no mention was made of this correlationship in the report’s findings.

 

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today