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September 14, 2009
- Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide: it accounted for 7.9 million deaths (around 13 percent of all deaths) in 2007.
- Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year globally.
- The most frequent types of cancer differ between men and women.
- About 30 percent of cancer deaths can be prevented.
- Tobacco use is the single most important risk factor for cancer.
- Cancer arises from a change in one single cell. The change may be started by external agents and inherited genetic factors.
- About 72 percent of all cancer deaths in 2007 occurred in lowand middle-income countries.
Source: World Health Organization
Carolina Public Health is a publication of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. To view previous issues, please visit www.sph.unc.edu/cph.
