A recent report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has predicted that cancer would cause the death of at least 10 million people globally.
The report by the research centre also predicted that there will be 18.1 million new cases of cancer worldwide.
The newly released figure showed an increase in the casualties of cancer with a rise from 8.2 million deaths to 9.6 million deaths.
IARC posited that more people would die from cancer, despite the awareness on the disease.
“An increased focus on prevention — encouraging people to get exercise, quit smoking, and eating a healthy diet — led to a drop in certain types of cancer in some population groups,” the IARC said.
Christopher Wild, Director of IAR, stated: “These new figures highlight that much remains to be done to address the alarming rise in the cancer burden globally and that prevention has a key role to play.”
IARC rated lung cancer to be the deadliest of all type of cancers, while breast cancer amount for more deaths in case of women.
“Lung cancer remains the biggest killer overall, responsible for some 1.8 million deaths — nearly a quarter of the global toll. For women, breast cancer caused 15 percent of cancer deaths, followed by lung cancer (13.8 percent) and colorectal cancer (9.5 percent).”
Speaking with AFP, Freddie Bray, IARC’s head of cancer surveillance, expressed that according to current statistics, the world could record 29 million new cases every year by 2040.
He said: “Models using current cancer statistics and predicted trends forecast as many as 29 million new cases a year by 2040.
“The extent to which this is becoming a major public health problem and the diversity of cancers that we see in different regions is also a striking point.”
He, however, recommended stricter tobacco control which would help reduce lung cancer or encourage physical activity to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
“Either from a social or an economic point of view the numbers are increasing and there’s a need to invest in prevention and public health programmes, and develop health services’ capacity, particularly in low-medium income countries,” he said.
