According to reports by the World’s Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, it is estimated that Cancer will kill nearly 10 million people this year, 2018
The number of people around the world who have cancer is “rapidly growing,” with 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million deaths in 2018 alone, researchers estimate in a new report.
The report says: The global population is growing, and more people means more cancer. The population is also aging, and cancer risks grow as you age. The numbers also look worse because in many countries, stroke and heart disease deaths are declining.
The researchers used data from 185 countries, looking at all the places in the body cancer can occur and taking a deeper look at 36 types.
Based on this data, one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer during their lifetime, the researchers estimate. One in eight men and one in 11 women will die from the disease.
The likelihood that one will get cancer or die from it depends, in part, on where you live. Nearly half of the new cancer cases and more than half the cancer deaths worldwide were in Asia, home to 60% of the world’s population.
The Americas, however, have their own serious problems with the disease, with 21% of cancer incidences and 14.4% of cancer deaths, despite having only 13.3% of the world’s population. Europe accounts for 23.4% of cancer cases and 20.3% of the deaths, but only 9% of the world’s population.
Prevention efforts seem to pay off, the report says. Countries with strong public awareness campaigns and laws that encourage people to quit smoking, such as in Northern Europe and North America, have seen a decline in the number of cases of lung cancer. Cervical cancer cases have declined in countries with concerted efforts to screen for it.
In countries with strong economies, the number of cancers coming from poverty and infections has declined, but those associated with what researchers call lifestyle choices, such as obesity and drinking, have gone up.
