More lung and liver cancers are diagnosed in Wallonia than in Flanders, a cancer atlas produced by scientific journal Eos revealed on Thursday. Each year, some 70,000 people are diagnosed with cancer, most commonly prostate, breast, lung, or colorectal.
The Eos journal bases its research on cancer incidence maps published by the Cancer Registry Foundation in 2016-2020 to create an unofficial atlas of the distribution of cancers by region. Trends are clearly available. Sunnier coastal regions have higher distributions of melanomas. Populous but relatively poor cities such as Liège and Charleroi typically have the highest rates of cancer.
Belgian cancer rates for men and women. Credit: Eos Wetenschap
“The high percentage of smokers, industrial and air pollution and exposure to radon… lead to a peak in lung cancer,” Eos highlights. Furthermore, “alcohol abuse, poor diet, and reduced access to health care lead to more liver cancers.”
Prostate cancers are much more common in Belgium’s Flemish-speaking regions, more precisely in West Flanders. These cancers are most common due to the relatively advanced average age of the Flemish population. Many coastal municipalities are significantly older than the national average and have higher levels of prostate cancer.
Eos suggests that relatively elevated levels of prostate cancer levels in Flanders could also be a result of increased screening and testing procedures, as opposed to other regions.
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In Wallonia, there is a relatively increased level of thyroid cancer although Eos attributes this to overdiagnosis. Unlike Flanders, there is a relatively low threshold for surgical intervention for this type of cancer in Wallonia.
Commenting on the results, Eos remarked that many young Belgians turning away from drinking and smoking is a promising sign. Smokers now start increasing later in life. The results of this, the researchers say, will only begin to be seen in a few decades.
