By IANS
New York : Cancer remained one of the biggest killers in 2007, accounting for a whopping 7.6 million deaths worldwide – or 20,000 deaths a day, according to a new report.
The report, by the American Cancer Society, estimates there will be over 12 million new cancer cases this year – a majority of them in developing countries.
Some 5.4 million of the cases and 2.9 million deaths will occur in developed countries, while 6.7 million cases and 4.7 million deaths will occur in developing countries.
The new estimate figures in the first-ever Global Cancer Facts & Figures, the latest addition to the American Cancer Society’s family of Facts & Figures publications.
The three most common cancers in developing countries are those of the lung, stomach and liver in men, and cancers of the breast, cervix uteri and stomach in women.
In developed countries, the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in men are prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer. Among women, they are breast, colorectal, and lung cancer.
In developing countries, two of the three leading cancers in men (stomach and liver) and in women (cervix and stomach) are related to infection. In both economically developed and developing countries, the three most common cancer sites are also the three leading causes of cancer death.
About 15 percent of all cancers worldwide are infection-related, with the percentage of cancers related to infection about three times higher in developing than in developed countries (26 percent versus 8 percent).
“The burden of cancer is increasing in developing countries as deaths from infectious diseases and childhood mortality decline and more people live to older ages when cancer most frequently occurs,” said Ahmedin Jemal, co-author of the report.
“This cancer burden is also increasing as people in the developing countries adopt western lifestyles such as cigarette smoking, higher consumption of saturated fat and calorie-dense foods, and reduced physical activity.”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that in 2002 there were approximately 24.6 million people worldwide who had been diagnosed with cancer in the past five years.
Survival rates for many cancers are poorer in developing countries than in developed countries largely because of lack of availability of early detection and treatment services.