Western lifestyles ‘set to bring cancer surge in developing countries’

Unhealthy Western ways of living are likely to fuel a massive surge in cancer rates around the world, experts have claimed.

A study predicts a more than 75 per cent increase in the global cancer burden by 2030. In the poorest countries, the rise could be in excess of 90 per cent.

The number of people worldwide diagnosed with cancer each year is forecast to swell from 12.7 million in 2008 to 22.2 million within the next 20 years.

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The trend is blamed on the spread of Western lifestyles to developing countries, where more people are now eating convenience food, becoming obese and smoking. A number of common cancers are linked to unhealthy high-income living, including those affecting the breast, prostate and bowel.

Substantial rises in the incidence of these diseases are likely to offset falling rates of other cancers, including cervical and stomach cancers, say researchers.

Scientists based their findings on a snapshot of cancer statistics from 184 countries in 2008.

The figures were recorded on the Globocan database compiled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and showed how cancer patterns varied according to four levels of human development.

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This data was used to project how the cancer burden was likely to change in 2030, taking into account forecasts of population size, ageing and national development. The results are published online in the journal The Lancet Oncology.

Study leader Dr Freddie Bray, said: “Cancer is already the leading cause of death in many high-income countries and is set to become a major cause of morbidity (illness) and mortality in the next decades in every nation of the world. This study serves as an important reference point in drawing attention to the need for global action to reduce the increasing burden of cancer.”

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