Tobacco continues to take its toll as cancer rates rise

Hundreds of people died last year of lung, mouth and bladder cancer - all of which are closely linked with smoking.

Each of those cancers took record numbers of lives, and it has been warned that even though fewer people than ever now smoke, that won't make a positive impact on death rates for around ten years.

Figures released by ISD Scotland showed that 602 people died of lung cancer, a 20-year high, while 43 died of mouth cancer and 72 of bladder cancer.

The number of women dying of tobacco-linked diseases is rising particularly sharply, and this is because it became more common for females to smoke in the 1970s.

Chief executive of Edinburgh anti-tobacco group ASH Scotland, Sheila Duffy, said: "We are now nearly 40 years on from the boom in women smokers, which is why lung cancer rates in women are still increasing.

"To reduce these figures it's vital that NHS stop-smoking services continue to attract women and support them, but just as importantly we need to keep cutting the numbers of girls taking up smoking."

Another type of cancer to reach a record high was kidney cancer, which killed 53. This has been put down to rising obesity rates.

Some key cancers did go down, particularly those which have been subject to major awareness campaigns such as breast and prostate cancer.

However, skin cancer hit a record 34 deaths last year.

In total, 2147 people died from cancer in the Lothians, compared with 2064 in 2008. This is in contrast to a downwards trend in Scotland, which can be explained by the Lothians' faster-than-average population rise, and more older people.

Experts said the fact fewer people were dying from strokes and heart attacks meant they had a greater chance of living long enough to develop cancer.

Dr Dermot Gorman, consultant in public health medicine for NHS Lothian, said that although the figures increased this year the long-term trend was downwards.

He said: "The standardised death rate from cancer in Lothian has slowly fallen over the past decade.

"Early detection can lead to a better chance of survival, and we have a wide range of screening programmes to help detect cancer as early as possible.

"We would urge people to protect their health by exercising, eating healthily, stopping smoking and reducing excessive alcohol intake."