In 2008, 63% of cancer deaths were in developing countries

By 2030, cancer could claim the lives of 13.3 million annually, almost double the number of patients who died from the illness in 2008, the U.N.'s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports. The group also "forecast[ed] that in 2030, new cases of cancer would soar to 21.3 million," the news service adds (6/1).

"Launching a new database [.pdf] on global incidence of cancer in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available, the IARC said the burden of cancer was shifting from wealthier to poorer nations," Reuters writes.

According to the database, 12.7 million people worldwide were diagnosed with new cases of cancer and 7.6 million people died from cancer in 2008. The data also revealed that "[a]round 56 percent of new cancer cases worldwide in 2008 were in developing countries and these regions also accounted for 63 percent of all cancer deaths," the news service writes.

In 2008, the most commonly diagnosed cancers were lung (1.61 million), breast (1.38 million), colorectal (1.23 million), while the deadliest were lung (1.38 million), stomach (0.74 million) and liver cancers (0.69 million), Reuters reports.

"IARC director Christopher Wild said the data represented the most accurate available assessment of the global burden of cancer and would help international health policy makers develop their responses," Reuters writes (Kelland, 6/1).