Mesothelioma : Overall scale of disease including trends -http://www.hse.gov.uk

Overall scale of disease including trends

Table MESO01 ^[1] shows that the annual number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain has risen fairly constantly since 1968 (the first complete year for which data are available following the introduction of the mesothelioma register in 1967); see also Figure 1. The total number of deaths in 2008 was 2249. Most of those who die from mesothelioma each year are male: in 2008 there were 1865 male deaths, 83% of the total number. Figure 1 also shows the number of disablement benefit cases made each year for mesothelioma since 1981. Table MESO02 ^[2] shows the number of mesothelioma deaths in each year in 5-year age groups for males and MESO03 ^[3] shows the number of mesothelioma deaths in each year in 5-year age groups for females.

Although the vast majority of mesothelioma cases are caused by occupational exposure to asbestos, a relatively small number of deaths each year occur in people with no history of exposure. There is some evidence to suggest that there could be as many as 50-100 of these so called spontaneous mesotheliomas each year.

Figure 1: Mesothelioma deaths and disablement benefit cases 1981-2009

The number of female mesothelioma deaths has always been much smaller than the corresponding number of male deaths. However, the number of annual deaths among women has increased more rapidly than the increase among men over the last ten years: the number of male deaths in 2008 (1865) is 35% higher than the number in 1999, whereas the number of female deaths (384) was 68% higher.

Table MESO04 ^[4]shows numbers of mesothelioma deaths and death rates by age and sex for the thirteen three-year time periods from 1970-2008. Death rates for males are shown in Figure 2(a). There are large differences in the magnitude of the rates between the different age groups for males. The three oldest age groups (65-74, 75-84 and 85+) have the highest rates and these continue to follow an upward trend over time. In the 55-64 age group the increase in the rate over time has generally not been as steep as for older age groups, and rates peaked in 2000-2002. After an increasing trend in the earlier time periods, rates in the 35-44 and 45-54 year age groups now show a downward trend with rates falling from the early 1990s. Rates for males aged between 25-34 are more variable due to the relatively small number of deaths in this age group.

Figure 2(a): Average annual male mesothelioma death rates per million by age and time period, 1970-2008p

Death rates for females are shown in figure 2(b). Although the age-specific rates for females are generally an order of magnitude lower than for males, similar patterns are evident, though with greater year-on-year fluctuations due to the smaller numbers of deaths. However, there is some suggestion that the rates in the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups have not reduced as strongly in women as in men and this may be consistent with a smaller proportion of female cases being caused by distinct occupational sources of exposure which ceased many years ago.

Figure 2(b): Average annual female mesothelioma death rates per million by age and time period, 1970-2008p

 
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