Cancer infects 25m annually — IARC

By Chioma Obinna & Esther Onyegbula

THE International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, has expressed concern over the  increase in new cases of cancer, predicting that about 25 million individuals will be infected annually with the disease within the next 20 years.

The IARC, in a new global report, said that the figure showed a 75 per cent increase from the current rate of 14 million new cases per year. In the report, IARC urged governments to recognise the growing cancer burden, stating that the incidence of cancer globally will continue to grow unless nations recognised the threat and act on it now.

It noted that the number of deaths due to the disease amongst the world’s poor is growing at a faster rate than previously expected, adding that it has been discovered that currently, 4.2 million people die premature yearly, due to the disease across the world.

The IARC also enjoined governments around the world to move to stop the millions of predicted needless and premature deaths caused by cancer by developing and implementing a national plan which includes proven preventive and early detection measures.

According to the report, in 2012, the global burden of cancer rose to an estimated 14 million new cases per year, a figure expected to rise to 22 million annually within the next two decades, adding that over the same period, cancer deaths are predicted to rise from an estimated 8.2 million annually to 13 million per year.