Abstract
Cancer is a major public health issue in Northern Ireland with one in three of the population developing some form of the disease by the time they reach 75 years. However in many ways cancer is a misunderstood disease with the common perception that it is unavoidable and almost always fatal. In this paper we give an overview of the cancer burden in Northern Ireland, focusing on the many aspects of cancer mortality including the distribution by cancer type, trends over time and variations by geographic area and socio-economic factors. Cancer mortality patterns are put into context alongside incidence levels and survival, and differences with the situation in the UK and Republic of Ireland are highlighted.