In 2023, 77,344 new cancer diagnoses were registered in Belgium —a third more than in 2004. A further increase to 80,000 diagnoses is expected for 2024, as shown in the figure below. This increase is largely due to population growth and ageing: more inhabitants and a higher proportion of elderly people, in whom cancer is more common, lead to more diagnoses. When this is considered, individual cancer risk appears to change only slightly. Since 2004, cancer risk in women has increased by an average of +0.6% annually. In men, the risk changed little with a slight downward trend of about -0.1% per year. These general trends conceal large differences by cancer type. For instance, the incidence of skin, liver, and pancreatic cancer, among others, increased in both sexes, while the risk of stomach, colon, and ovarian cancer decreased. The difference in lung cancer and head and neck cancer is striking: the risk increases in women but decreases in men.
Positive note: the prognosis for cancer patients continues to improve. For the most common cancers, breast and prostate cancer, the 5-year net survival (excluding causes of death other than those related to the cancer diagnosis) is 93% and 99%, respectively. For lung cancer, the second most common cancer in men and women, the prognosis is much less favourable, but results are getting better year-over-year. The 5-year net survival increased by 15 percentage points in women (now 35%) and 12 points in men (now 27%) when comparing diagnoses from the period 2004-2008 to the period 2019-2023. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer type in both men and women. Here, 5-year survival increased from 63% to 70% over the past 20 years.
The Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) was established in 2005 and has reliable data on cancer diagnoses in Flanders since 1999 and for the whole of Belgium since 2004. With the publication of the figures for 2023, two decades of data are now available. These data are an indispensable source for policy, research, and prevention, supporting numerous actors in healthcare and science. The latest data were also added to our Drawing module, where you can generate your own graphs and tables tailored to your needs.
