77 - Unspecified neoplasms

Summary

This is a sub-category of All cancer deaths (see Map 7) that accounts for 11% of all cancers.

The lowest rates are found in the Home Counties, rural Scotland and the south west of England. High rates tend to be found in the north, with Tyneside, Merseyside and Manchester standing out. There is a further cluster of high rates in east London.

Often when diagnosis is late cancer has spread to more than one site. Diagnosis is more often late where people are less well informed of the symptoms of illness and where they generally expect to feel ill more often.

When someone has been classified as dying from ‘Unspecified neoplasms’ it means that no single primary site of the cancer has been noted on the death certificate. Occasionally this is because there are multiple primary sites of cancer, and it is not known which of these cancers was the cause of death. Often it is because cancer was not diagnosed until it had spread, most commonly to the liver. It may not be obvious where this secondary cancer arose from. Cancer that has spread is often incurable, and ascertaining the original site is only of academic value.