More than 17 400 deaths a year in the United Kingdom from cancer could be prevented if all areas of the country matched those with the lowest mortality, says a new cancer atlas published this week.

Lifestyle rather than where people live contributes most to the national variation in incidence of cancer, the atlas produced by the Office for National Statistics shows, but a north-south divide exists for some cancers.

The comprehensive picture of rates of the 21 most common cancers between 1991 and 2000 across the UK as well as Ireland confirms that areas with high levels of socioeconomic deprivation tend to be the places with the highest cancer incidence and mortality.

The atlas shows a strong link …