
(CNN)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.
By the end of the century, cancer will be the No. 1 killer globally and the single biggest barrier to increasing our life expectancy, according to the report, released Wednesday by the World’s Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Cancer by the numbers
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 number of cancer cases is increasing for a number of reasons, 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 top five most deadly
Lung, breast and colorectal cancers are the ones people get the most. Lung cancer is the most deadly, with 1.8 million deaths — 18.4% of total cancer deaths for 2018, according to the report. Colorectal comes in second for mortality, with 881,000 deaths, and breast cancer fifth with 627,000 deaths. Combined, these three cancers account for a third of estimated cancer deaths globally in 2018.
Stomach cancer (783,000 deaths) and liver cancer (782,000 deaths) are the third and fourth most prevalent cancer deaths in 2018.
Source :-CNN
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