Breast and prostate cancers are the two most common amongst men and women in Bermuda, according to new statistics released by health officials.

At a Cancer Forum at the weekend, The Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) released the statistics for last year. Previously no figures had been officially recorded.

They show the leading cancer in women last year was breast cancer, and the most common cancer in men was prostate. There were also several cases of skin cancer in both men and women of fair complexion.

Tumour special project manager Katura Horton-Perinchief, has been collecting and collating cancer data for BHB for about a year-and-a-half and she admitted that few conclusions could be made with the limited results.

"Without any statistics to compare these to, we cannot speak to prevalence of any of these cancers," she said.

The figures are all newly diagnosed cancers in 2009 but are incomplete because some physicians have not submitted their cases. Ms Horton-Perinchief estimated that 15 to 20 percent of the cancers diagnosed last year have still not been reported to her and she expects many of them will be prostate cancer.

The figures show:

• More than 46 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer were aged between 40 and 59.

l Prostate cancer was diagnosed in 42 percent of men with cancer, with lung and colorectal cancer the next most common at 14 percent each.

• Seventy-five percent of women diagnosed with cancer last year had breast cancer. The next most common was colorectal cancer at 18 percent followed by lung cancer at 11 percent.

• The top three cancer killers were lung cancer, accounting for 21.7 percent of deaths, followed by colorectal at 15.7 percent and breast cancer at 13.9 percent.

Ms Horton Perinchief said the data showed that cancer deaths in Bermuda were largely avoidable. "Lung cancer is preventable," she said. "All but two of the lung cancer cases were smokers. The two that were not had parents that smoked."

Bermudian gastroenterologist Dr. Victor Scott Jr., in last week's Body and Soul, explained that colorectal cancer the second largest cancer killer could be prevented with regular screening. Regular mammograms and breast self-exams will also help in the early detection of breast cancer. Early detection of this cancer greatly improves survival rates.