Cancer is more likely in children from rich, rural British families

London Andrew Cole

Children from affluent backgrounds who live in rural or isolated areas in England, Wales, and Scotland are more likely than other children to develop cancer, says the largest ever survey of childhood cancer in Britain.

It dismisses the suggestion that radiation from nuclear power stations is responsible for any increase in the incidence of childhood cancer, but it does propose that research be conducted into the clusters of cancer around Sellafield in Cumbria and Dounreay in Scotland.

The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, an independent expert advisory committee, looked at more than 32 000 cases of cancer in children under the …