Saturday 2 May 2009

10 killer facts on cancer

  • There are more than 100 types of cancer; any part of the body can be affected.
  • Cancer accounted for 7.9 million deaths worldwide (around 13% of all deaths) in 2007.
  • Deaths from cancer are projected to rise to 12 million worldwide by 2030.
  • The 5 most common types of cancer that kill men worldwide are lung, stomach, liver, colorectal and esophagus.
  • The 5 most common types of cancer that kill women are breast, lung, stomach, colorectal and cervical.
  • About 72% of all cancer deaths in 2007 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
  • WHO estimates that 30% of cancers can be prevented, mainly by not using tobacco, having a healthy diet and being physically active.
  • Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of cancer in the world.
  • A third of cancers could be cured if detected early and treated adequately.
  • A fifth of all cancers in the world are caused by chronic infection, eg human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer & hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes liver cancer.

References :

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/29/cancer.facts/

updated as at 29 Jan 2009

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