Cancer Will Soon Be World's Biggest Killer
Deaths Will Surpass AIDS, Malaria and Heart Disease
Dec 12, 2008
Cancer will be the leading killer in the world by 2010, surpassing heart disease, and causing more deaths than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
According to a new report called 2008 World Cancer Report released by the World Health Organization in December 2008, unless new treatments are found, there could be 27 million people with cancer by 2030. That would translate to more than 17 million cancer deaths each year.
And, there could be 75 million people living with cancer within five years after diagnosis. Globally, cancer has more than doubled in the past 30 years, the reported stated. Currently, more than 25 million people living with cancer five years after being diagnosed.
Developing Countries Being Hit the Hardest
The burden of cancer is shifting from developed countries to developing nations, the report stated, and with a growing and aging population, governments must take steps to address this problem now.
More than 12 million new cases of cancer and more than 7.5 million deaths related to cancer reported. Of these, 5.6 million were in developing countries with an estimated 4.7 million cancer deaths.
Treatment is options in developing countries is often nil and typically expensive. The report also stated that currently there are as many as 30 developing countries without radiotherapy equipment. In developing countries, most cancer is caused by chronic infections; as many as 12 percent of all cases are because of smoking and the number is growing annually.
Increased Smoking and Western Influence Are Major Causes
In developing countries, cancer rates are growing as people adopt western lifestyles including smoking, high-fat diets, fast food and less physical activity, the report detailed.
Smoking is the major avoidable risk for cancer and cancer deaths around the world, and worldwide, about 1 billion people smoke.
Cases of breast cancer also have increased by about 5 percent a year in developing countries, and cervical cancer, which is preventable, is causing an alarming of deaths in women.
Cancer cases and cancer deaths are expected to grow 1 percent a year, with the biggest increases in China, Russia and India.
Differences in Cancer Rates Around the World
There are major differences in cancer rates and types of malignancies around the world.
For example:
According to the report, breast cancer rates have doubled or tripled over the past 40 years in Japan, Singapore and Korea. In China, breast cancer rates have increased 20 percent to 30 percent in the past decade. Lack of refrigeration has caused an increase in stomach cancer in some Asian countries. In the United States, refrigeration and improved hygiene have reduced stomach cancer by 89 percent in men and 92 percent in women since 1930. In Africa, there were an estimated 667,000 cases of cancer and 518,000 cancer deaths in 2008.
The United States has seen a drop in cancer cases and death for the first time in a decade, mainly because of fewer cases of lung, prostate and colorectal cancers among men, and fewer cases of breast and colorectal cancer among women.
Staving Off the Cancer Increases
To stave off the increasing cancer rates, the American Cancer Society is recommends:
- Vaccines that prevent cancer-causing infections such as human papillomavirus need to be made available to low-income countries.
- Greater support for tobacco-control programs.
- Health officials must promote sensitive risk-reduction programs and invest in cancer research and early detection.
 |
