Source : Presstv / 19 Dec 2013

The number of people suffering from different kinds of cancer has increased to 14 million, according to the latest report announced by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Comparing to the 12.7 million cases in 2008, the recent report shows a remarkable rise in 2012.

Furthermore, the number of deaths has also increased, from 7.6 million to 8.2 million during the compared years. Fatality rates are higher in less developed countries, according to the report.

The experts believe that the reason can be traced to a rapid shift in lifestyles in the developing world to more closely reflect industrialized countries.

Rising rates of smoking and obesity are also among the factors that contribute to the reasons.

Lung cancer, which is mainly caused by smoking, was the most common cancer globally with 1.8 million cases that is about 13% of the total.

The WHO’s report has also revealed a sharp rise in cases of breast cancer, which is currently the most common cancer in women in 140 countries.

"Breast cancer is also a leading cause of cancer death in the less developed countries of the world,” said Dr David Forman from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

"This is partly because a shift in lifestyles is causing an increase in incidence, and partly because clinical advances to combat the disease are not reaching women living in these regions," he also explained.

“The number of cancer cases will reach to more than 19 million a year by 2025,” the WHO warned.

"An urgent need in cancer control today is to develop effective and affordable approaches to the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer among women living in less developed countries," said director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Christopher Wild.