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| Date: 11 December 2008 @ 12:28 am IST |
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| Cancer" to be world's top killer by 2010, particularly in India and China |
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Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year. Global cancer deaths are expected to reach 7 million, according to the new report by the World Health Organization. |
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An annual rise of 1 percent in cases and deaths is expected — with even larger increases in China, Russia and India. That means new cancer cases will likely mushroom to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million. |
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By 2030, there could be 75 million people living with cancer around the world, a number that many health care systems are not equipped to handle . |
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| "This is going to present an amazing problem at every level in every society worldwide," said Peter Boyle, director of the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer . |
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| By 2030, there could be 75 million people living with cancer around the world, a number that many health care systems are not equipped to handle . |
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Cancer will surpass heart disease as the world's number one killer by 2010, with poorer countries set to suffer most from the trend due to smoking, high-fat diets and other factors, international health experts warned (AFP ) |
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| Cancer by the Numbers |
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| Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 1.2 million new cases annually; followed by cancer of the breast , just over 1 million cases; |
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| Cancers |
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Cases |
| colorectal |
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940,000 |
| stomach |
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870,000 |
| liver |
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560,000 |
| cervical |
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470,000 |
| esophageal |
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410,000 |
| head and neck |
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390,000 |
| bladder |
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330,000 |
| malignant non-Hodgkin lymphomas |
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290,000 |
| leukemia |
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250,000 |
| prostate and testicular |
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250,000 |
| pancreatic |
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216,000 |
| ovarian |
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190,000 |
| kidney |
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190,000 |
| endometrial |
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188,000 |
| nervous system |
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175,000 |
| melanoma |
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133,000 |
| thyroid |
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123,000 |
| pharynx |
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65,000 |
| Hodgkin disease |
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62,000 |
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| The three leading cancer killers are different than the three most common forms, with lung cancer responsible for 17.8 per cent of all cancer deaths, stomach, 10.4 per cent and liver, 8.8 per cent . |
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| Early detection - the best strategy second to primary prevention The best possible prevention against cancer remains the avoidance of exposure to cancer-causing agents: this is called primary prevention (e.g. tobacco, industrial carcinogens, etc). |
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There is sound evidence that the recent decline in cancer mortality observed in several countries is to a significant extent due to early detection. Responsible for this success are not only improvements in imaging (mammography, magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) imaging), but also a higher degree of disease awareness and educational programmes on typical early symptoms. Most successful so far has been the early detection of cervical cancer by cytology and of breast cancer by mammography . A recent analysis by an IARC Working Group concluded that under trial conditions, mammography screening may reduce breast cancer mortality by 25-30 per cent and that in nation-wide screening programmes a reduction by 20 per cent appears feasible. There is also emerging evidence that prostate cancer screening by assessment of serum PSA levels may result in lower mortality rates but management of early lesions is still very invasive. For colon cancer, colonoscopy is considered the gold standard although its application in population-based screening programmes would require considerable medical resources. |
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