As per WHO (http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer) , cancer is the leading cause of death globally, and was responsible for 8.8 million deaths in 2015. Approximately 70% of these deaths occur in low and middle level income countries. Tobacco use, Alcohol use, Less vegetable diet, high BMI are the main causes of cancer occurrence. Tobacco alone kills 22% of the cancer patients.
As per World Cancer Research Fund International data (https://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/worldwide-data), there were an estimated 14.1 million cancer cases around the world in 2012, of these 7.4 million cases were in men and 6.7 million in women. This number is expected to increase to 24 million by 2035.
Most common cancer type world wide
| Rank | Cancer | New cases diagnosed in 2012 (1,000s) | Per cent of all cancers (excl. non-melanoma skin cancer) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lung | 1,825 | 13.0 |
| 2 | Breast | 1,677 | 11.9 |
| 3 | Colorectum | 1,361 | 9.7 |
| 4 | Prostate | 1,112 | 7.9 |
| 5 | Stomach | 952 | 6.8 |
| 6 | Liver | 782 | 5.6 |
| 7 | Cervix uteri | 528 | 3.7 |
| 8 | Oesophagus | 456 | 3.2 |
| 9 | Bladder | 430 | 3.1 |
| 10 | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 386 | 2.7 |
| 11 | Leukaemia | 352 | 2.5 |
| 12= | Pancreas | 338 | 2.4 |
| 12= | Kidney | 338 | 2.4 |
| 14 | Corpus uteri (endometrium) | 320 | 2.3 |
| 15 | Lip, oral cavity | 300 | 2.1 |
| 16 | Thyroid | 298 | 2.1 |
| 17 | Brain, nervous system | 256 | 1.8 |
| 18 | Ovary | 239 | 1.7 |
| 19 | Melanoma of skin | 232 | 1.6 |
| 20 | Gallbladder | 178 | 1.3 |
| 21 | Larynx | 157 | 1.1 |
| 22 | Other pharynx | 142 | 1.0 |
| 23 | Multiple myeloma | 114 | 0.8 |
| 24 | Nasopharynx | 87 | 0.6 |
| 25 | Hodgkin lymphoma | 66 | 0.5 |
| 26 | Testis | 55 | 0.4 |
| 27 | Kaposi sarcoma | 44 | 0.3 |
Source: Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray, F.
GLOBOCAN 2012 v 1.1, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC Cancer Base No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014. Available from: http://globocan.iarc.fr, accessed on 16/01/2015.
While all these agencies, companies around the world, NGO’s coming together to fight against these cancer types, its individual responsibility to ensure few changes in the lifestyle.
- Give up use of tobacco and smoking immediately.
- Take more vegetables and green diet.
- Exercise regularly and keep yourself fit.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle.
- In case of any abnormalities in the body, go for immediate check up.
- Look for symptoms like bloody discharge from nipple, sudden weight loss, lumps in the body, skin darkening symptoms etc.
- People with age of 45+ should go for yearly health check you.
- Avoid exposure to radiation.
