Cancer diagnosis now more common than getting married: study

Detecting cancer is now more common than getting married or having a first baby, research suggested.

According to analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support, 361,216 cancer cases were diagnosed in 2014 in the UK as against 289,841 marriages.

The data further showed that over the last decade, over 1.2 million people had been diagnosed with cancer under the age of 65.

New cancer cases had also become as common as graduating from university, and more common than a woman having her first baby.

First-time mothers in England and Wales had 271,050 babies, compared to 319,011 new cases of cancer.

Macmillan Cancer Support, which conducted the study added that cancer was also named as the disease people in Scotland most feared, ahead of conditions such as Alzheimer's.

The research formed part of a campaign to remove the fear of a cancer diagnosis.

According to Macmillan, the number of people with cancer in Scotland had risen by 18 per cent in five years.

Across the UK, Cancer Research UK said there had been a 12 per cent increase since the 1990s, with rates among women up by 16 per cent and 4 per cent for men.

According to Macmillan, in addition to trying to remove the fear of a cancer diagnosis, its Life With Cancer campaign aimed to highlight the support available to people with the disease.

Forty one per cent of the Scots polled said they feared getting cancer over any other disease, and according to one in eight, cancer was scarier than terrorism or losing a loved one.

Trisha Hatt, Macmillan's partnership manager in Scotland, said, "This research highlights that for many people, cancer will be a fact of life, BBC reported.

"Survival rates from the illness are increasing, and even those with incurable cancer often live for many years.

"This report is about highlighting what life with cancer really looks like for a lot of people - looking after their children, seeing friends and even going to work.''