Cancer has shown a sharp rise over the last three years but specialists are at a loss to explain why.

And rates have risen steadily since 1990 with 305 cases recorded last year compared with just 219 in 1990.

However, it is no longer the island's chief killer.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann explained that cardio-vascular related deaths such as strokes have taken over from cancer in 1995 as the Island's grimmest of reapers.

The latest death statistics reveal that cancer killed 129 people in 1997 compared to 165 people who died of circulatory problems.

Dr. Cann explained: "Cancer and heart disease are the major things that kill us. Mainly it's prostate cancer for men and for women it's breast cancer.'' Despite a blip in 1997, Dr. Cann said lung cancer was low compared to other countries.

Asked about the surge in recorded cases of cancer, consultant oncologist Dr.

Sidney Lowry said: "Part of it is earlier detection, the other part is to do with our lifestyle and diet and other factors.

"But cancer is on the rise here and breast cancer is part of that.'' As an example of lifestyle affecting cancer rates, he explained that Japanese women who had low incidences of breast cancer experienced a sharp rise when they emigrated to America.

But he was at a loss to explain Bermuda's soaring cancer rates.

He said: "Although there is a group with hereditary cancer there is another group where it is external factors that we are not quite clear about.

"I think the short answer is that we really don't know what's causing this rise.

"There is a trend towards healthier eating but what we are looking at is what was happening ten years ago.

"Breast cancer on average takes eight years to become clinically apparent.

"It's like looking at a distant star. What we are looking at today is what happened previously so what we would hope is that we would begin to see things dip.'' And there were further reasons to take heart, he said.

Dr. Lowry said: "While in the Western world breast cancer has risen by 40 percent over the last 20 years, Bermuda hadn't seen such a sharp rise.'' He added: "Bermuda has about half the number of smokers per head of population than the US.'' Dr. Cann pointed out that the rise in cancer rates could have been affected by a rise in population.

And he added that the Island had tripled its capacity for mammography leading to increased rates of detection for breast cancer.