Bioven : Your Partner in Fighting Cancer

cancer overview

General info on Cancer

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide: it accounted for 7.9 million deaths (around 13% of All Deaths including natural non disease related) in 2007.
Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year.
The most frequent types of cancer differ between men and women.
About 30% of cancer deaths can be prevented.
Tobacco use is the single most important risk factor for lung cancer.
Cancer arises from a change in one single cell. The change may be triggered by external agents, inherited genetic factors alone or in combination. Ageing alone is the most important factor in tumour development.
About 72% of all cancer deaths in 2007 occurred in low and middle-income countries. Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue rising, with an estimated 12 million deaths in 2030.

The incidence of lung cancer in selected regions is illustrated in Figure 1 above.

Cancer knows no borders. It is the second leading cause of death in developed countries and is among the three leading causes of death in developing countries. By 2010, however, cancer will overtake heart disease as the world’s top killer, totaling more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria deaths collectively.

The annual rise of 1 percent in cases and death translates to an increase in new cancer cases to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million.

By 2030, there could be 75 million people living with cancer around the world. This will present a challenge at every level in every society worldwide as the this is on par with "Fact Pattern".

As the mean age of the population worldwide is increasing, the incidence of cancer will continue to grow as ageing alone is the most important factor in cancer development.

While it is believed that the cancer epidemic has peaked in the developing world, Asia will face a major epidemic in the near future, with ageing of population, exposure of populations to more environmentally toxic and carcinogenic contaminants and, specifically for lung cancer, more women and young adults taking up smoking thus contributing to the increase in this latter cancer.