(Ivanhoe Newswire) – By the end of the year it is predicted there will be more than 12 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths worldwide – that’s about 20,000 cancer deaths a day.

The estimates come from a new American Cancer Society report based on data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The report also estimates 5.4 million of those cancers and 2.9 million deaths will be in economically developed countries, while 6.7 million case and 4.7 million deaths will be in economically developing countries.

The research shows the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in men in developed countries are prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer; in women they are breast, colorectal, and lung cancer. But in developing countries the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in men are lung, stomach, and liver cancer; and in women they are cancers of the breast, cervix uteri, and stomach. Cancers of the stomach, liver, and cervix are related to infection in these countries.
 

About 15-percent of all cancers around the world are infection-related with a three times higher percentage in developing countries than in developed ones – 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,” study co-author Ahmedin Jemal, Ph.D., American Cancer Society, was quoted as saying. “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.”

In both developed and developing countries, the report shows the three most common cancer sites are also the three leading causes of deaths from cancer.

SOURCE: Global Cancer Facts & Figures, 2007