
Cancer
may supplant heart disease as the number one cause of death
worldwide in 2010. There is a growing cancer burden in poor
countries as a result of increased cigarette smoking and other
factors.
Globally, about 12.4 million people will be diagnosed with
some form of cancer this year, and 7.6 million people will
die. The global cancer burden doubled in the last 30 years of
the 20th century, and it will likely double again between 2000
and 2020 and nearly triple by 2030.
By 2030, 26.4 million people a year may be diagnosed with
cancer, with 17 million people dying from it. In men, lung
cancer leads new cases and deaths, while among women, breast
cancer leads new cases and deaths.
Although decades ago, cancer was considered largely a problem
of Westernized, rich, industrialized countries, today much of
the global burden now rests in poor and medium-income
countries.