In Germany, fewer and fewer people are coming to hospital with cancer. In 2022 – there are no more current figures – a good 1.4 million people had to be treated in the clinic because of a tumor. This is the lowest level in the past 20 years, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday. Compared to 2021, when a number of treatments were suspended or postponed due to the pandemic, the number of cancer-related hospital stays fell by another two percent in 2022.
Cancer was again the fourth most common reason for a stay in hospital in 2022: eight percent of all inpatient treatments were due to a tumor. More often, only diseases of the circulatory system (15 percent), injuries, poisoning and other consequences of external causes (ten percent) and diseases of the digestive system (ten percent) were treated as inpatients.
Cancer was also the second most common cause of death in Germany in 2022. More people died only from diseases of the circulatory system, the number one killer. 54 percent of those who died from cancer were men and 46 percent were women. Cancer is the most common cause of death for people between the ages of 40 and 74: more than one in three deaths in this age group are due to cancer.
The number of deaths caused by cancer has increased
Smoking, excess alcohol, external pollutants, extreme obesity and genetic influences increase the likelihood of developing a tumor. However, the biggest risk factor for cancer is age. This is also reflected in the fact that people between the ages of 60 and 79 often had to go to hospital because of a tumor. More than half (54 percent) of all cancer patients in 2022 belonged to this age group. About 20 percent of cancer patients were 40 to 59 years old, and another 20 percent were 80 years old or older. Only five percent of those affected were under 40 years old. The most common types of cancer treated in hospital in 2022 included lung and bronchial cancer (twelve percent), followed by colon cancer (ten percent), breast cancer (nine percent), skin cancer (eight percent) and bladder cancer (seven percent).
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Medical staff examines a woman’s breast for breast cancer using a mammogram.
(Foto: Hannibal Hanschke/picture alliance/dpa)
The number of deaths caused by cancer has increased in the past 20 years: in 2022, a good 231,500 people died as a result of a tumor, whereas in 2002 there were around 210,000. According to the statisticians, this increase is above all due to the aging of the population and is not reflected in an increase in hospital stays.
There are many reasons for the decline in inpatient cancer treatment. The number of smokers in Germany has shrunk from around 22 million to 16 million over the past 20 years. A balanced diet and sufficient exercise also contribute to cancer prevention. Early detection may also play a role. In addition, the treatment of many types of cancer has improved. On the one hand, this means that patients survive longer without symptoms. On the other hand, not all tumor treatments have to take place in the hospital. Outpatient therapies give patients more freedom and are not included in the current statistics.