Cancer deaths rise to 9.6 million globally as populations age

• A quarter of adults are too inactive, putting health at risk

• Global cancer survival rates improve, but wide gaps remain

"These new figures highlight that much remains to be done toaddress the alarming rise in the cancer burden globally and thatprevention has a key role to play," IARC's director ChristopherWild said in a statement with the report.

He called for efficient prevention and early detectionpolicies to be implemented urgently "to control this devastatingdisease across the world."

IARC's report said prevention efforts such as stop-smokingcampaigns, screenings, and human papillomavirus vaccinations may have helped reduce incidence rates for some cancers, such aslung cancer among men in Northern Europe and North America andcervical cancer in most regions other than sub-Saharan Africa.

But it added that most countries still face an overall risein the number of cancer cases diagnosed and needing treatment.

Worldwide, the total number of people who are alive withinfive years of a cancer diagnosis, called the 5-year prevalence,is estimated to be 43.8 million.

Global patterns showed that for men and women combined,nearly half of new cancer cases and more than half of cancerdeaths worldwide in 2018 will be in Asia, in part because theregion has nearly 60 per cent of the global population.

Europe accounts for 23.4 per cent of global cancer cases and20.3 per cent of cancer deaths, although it has only 9 per cent ofthe global population.

The Americas have 13.3 per cent of the global population andaccount for 21 per cent of cancer cases and 14.4 per cent ofcancer deaths.