Statistics show sharp increase in global cancer cases

Marked increase in new cancer cases around the globe was seen in 2012, with a sharp rise in the breast cancer in urgent need to be addressed, according to statistics released Thursday by a specialized cancer research agency of the World Health Organization (WHO). GLOBOCAN 2012, the latest version of online database launched by WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), provided the most recent estimates for 28 types of cancer in 184 countries worldwide and offered a comprehensive overview of the global cancer burden, said IARC. According to GLOBOCAN 2012, an estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurred in 2012, compared to 12.7million and 7.6million, respectively, in 2008 when the previous edition of the database was launched. Based on current estimated figures, the agency predicted a significant increase to 19.3 million new cancer cases per year by 2025, owing to the growth and aging of the global population. Statistics showed that the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide were those of the lung, with the number up to 1.8 million, accounting for 13 percent of the total, breast (1.7million, 11.9 percent), and colorectum (1.4million, 9.7 percent). The most common causes of cancer death were cancers of the lung (1.6million, 19.4 percent of the total), liver (0.8million, 9.1 percent), and stomach (0.7million, 8.8 percent), according to the database. Moreover, the agency also drew special attention to the sharp rise in breast cancer, the most common cause of cancer death among women, with data showing that 1.7 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, up by more than 20 percent from 2008, and mortality has increased by 14 percent over the same period, with 522000 deaths in 2012. IARC also highlighted that worldwide trends showed that in developing countries going through rapid societal and economic changes, the shift towards lifestyles typical of industrialized countries leads to a rising burden of cancers associated with reproductive, dietary, and hormonal risk factors. In addition to that, IARC stressed the disparity between developed and less developed areas in spite of the overall increasing cancer cases in most regions of the world. Data showed that in 2012, more than half of incidence and mortality of all cancers occurred in less developed regions, with the proportions reaching to 56.8 percent and 64.9 percent respectively. Having cited the cervical cancer as an example, the agency detailed that in sub-Saharan Africa, 34.8 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed per 100,000 women annually, and 22.5 per 100,000 women die from the disease, compared to 6.6 and 2.5 per 100000 women, respectively, in North America. Such drastic differences were contributed to the lack of access to effective screening and to services that facilitate early detection and treatment in less developed areas, the agency said.