One in four Cypriots will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime, while 42 new cases of cancer and leukaemia in children aged 0-19 are diagnosed annually.
Figures were unveiled during a press conference on World Cancer Day and International Childhood Cancer Day.
It was organised by the State Health Services Organisation (Okypy), which presented the work carried out at the Oncology Centres of Nicosia and Limassol General Hospitals and the Childhood Cancer Clinic at Makarios Hospital.
According to GLOBOCAN, the Global Cancer Observatory of WHO, based on Cyprus Cancer Archives with data up to 2018, one in nine people in Cyprus will die from cancer until 75.
More than 1,500 childhood cancer cases and other haematological or oncology diseases are treated annually at Nicosia’s Makarios Children`s Hospital.
In 2021, 30 new cases were diagnosed and treated at the hospital.
Okypy deputy executive director Kypros Stavrides said the organisation supports all cancer patients and their families, offering specialised services at all the oncology wards of public hospitals.
Head of the Oncology clinic at Nicosia General Dr Rena Ioannou, said cancer patients at the clinic, operating since 1964, undergo complete therapy and treatment.
Head of the Oncology clinic of Limassol Hospital, Dr Simon Malas, said the clinic established in 2004 offers outpatient services daily.
It has a ward with 16 beds, a daycare clinic, and a dialysis centre. An outpatient clinic operates every Tuesday at Paphos General Hospital.
Dr Eleni Papachristodoulou, Head of the Children Oncology Clinic at Makarios Hospital, said the clinic is the only one that offers treatment to children and teenagers who are diagnosed with cancer and leukaemia.
Children are also treated after bone marrow transplants. The clinic has 14 beds for inpatients and 8 for outpatients.
According to estimates by the European Cancer Information System (ECIS), in 2020, 4,989 new cases were diagnosed (2,739 men and 2,250 women) while 2,430 cancer deaths were reported (1,436 men and 994 women).
The most common forms of cancer in Cyprus in men are prostate cancer which is diagnosed with a frequency of 30%, lung cancer (16% ) and large intestine (14%).
The most common cancers in women are breast cancer (34%), thyroid (10%) and large intestine (8%).
Most deaths in Cyprus in the male population occur as a result of lung cancer (24%), prostate (13%) and large intestine (11%).
In women, most deaths occur due to breast cancer (20%), large intestine and lung cancer (11%). (source CNA)
