Cancer to Surpass Heart Disease as World's Leading Killer

Cancer cases and cancer deaths are expected to grow 1 percent a year, with the biggest increases in China, Russia and India.

There are major differences in cancer rates and types of malignancies around the world. For example:

Breast cancer rates have doubled or tripled over the past 40 years in Japan, Singapore and Korea. In China, breast cancer rates have increased 20 percent to 30 percent in the past decade.Lack of refrigeration has caused an increase in stomach cancer in some Asian countries. In the United States, refrigeration and improved hygiene have reduced stomach cancer by 89 percent in men and 92 percent in women since 1930. In Africa, there were an estimated 667,000 cases of cancer and 518,000 cancer deaths in 2008. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. HIV-related cancers are also prevalent.

In the United States, for the first time since such statistics were released in 1998, the number of men and women getting and dying from cancer has dropped, according to a report released earlier this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The drop was mostly due to fewer cases of lung, prostate and colorectal cancers among men, and fewer cases of breast and colorectal cancer among women. Also, death rates from lung cancer have leveled off among women since 2003, the American Cancer Society report found.

To stem the global tide of increasing cancer rates, the American Cancer Society is recommending several steps, Brawley said.

First, vaccines that prevent cancer-causing infections -- such as human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer -- need to be made available to low-income countries. Second, there needs to be greater support for U.S. and international tobacco-control programs. Third, health officials and governments must promote culturally sensitive risk-reduction programs and invest in cancer research and early detection.

More information

For more on cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: Dec. 9, 2008, teleconference with Otis Webb Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; Peter Boyle, B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., director, International Agency for Research on Cancer; Dec. 9, 2008, World Health Organization report, 2008 World Cancer Report; Dec. 3, 2008, Journal of the National Cancer Institute