More than 8 million people die from cancer worldwide every year, and the global cancer epidemic is set to rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A graphic the CDC shared Feb. 4, 2015 in honor of World Cancer Day says the death number is 8.2 million. At least 22 percent of the most common cancers are preventable by not smoking.
"Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: 5-year survival is below 20-percent in Europe, 15- to 19-percent in North America" and "7- to 9-percent in Mongolia and Thailand," the CDC says.
In the U.S., more than half-a-million people are expected to die from cancer in 2015, according to cancer.org. Cancer as a killer is second only to heart disease. But cancer death rates continue to decline in the U.S. thanks largely to early detection and better treatment options.
The Cancer Trends Progress Report states smoking causes about 30 percent of all U.S. cancer deaths.
The World Health Organization lists the globe's leading cancers:
- Lung, 1.5M deaths annually
- Liver, 745K deaths annually
- Stomach, 723K deaths annually
- Colorectal, 694K deaths annually
- Breast, 521K deaths annually
- Oesophageal, 400K deaths annually
Find out about the link between age and cancer in this Newsy video: