Global cancer cases hit 14 million – WHO

The number of people being diagnosed with cancer in the world each
year has leaped to more than 14 million, the World Health Organization
says.
The data for 2012 shows a marked rise on the 12.7 million cases in 2008.
In that time the number of deaths has also increased, from 7.6 million
to 8.2 million.
The rising burden of cancer is being driven by a rapid shift in
lifestyles in the developing world to more closely reflect
industrialised countries.
Rising rates of smoking and obesity as well as people living longer
are contributing to the rise.
Lung cancer, which is mainly caused by smoking, was the most common
cancer globally, with 1.8 million cases – about 13 per cent of the
total.
The WHO also described a "sharp rise" in cases of breast cancer. Both
the incidence and mortality have increased since 2008. The disease in
now the most common cancer in women in 140 countries.
Dr David Forman, from the WHO's International Agency for Research on
Cancer, said: "Breast cancer is also a leading cause of cancer death
in the less developed countries of the world.
"This is partly because a shift in lifestyles is causing an increase
in incidence, and partly because clinical advances to combat the
disease are not reaching women living in these regions."
The WHO said there was an "urgent need" for the advances made in
detection, diagnoses and treatment of breast cancer to be implemented
in developing nations.
The WHO predicts the number of cancer cases will soar to more than 19
million a year by 2025