Western living 'fuels cancer rates'

The number of people worldwide diagnosed with cancer each year is forecast to swell from 12::7 million in 2008 to 22.2 million within the next 20 years.
The trend is blamed on the spread of Western lifestyles to developing countries, where more people are now eating convenience food, becoming obese and smoking. A number of common cancers are linked to unhealthy high-income living, including those affecting the breast, prostate and bowel.
Substantial rises in the incidence of these diseases are likely to offset falling rates of others associated with infections, including cervical and stomach cancers, say researchers.
Scientists based their findings on a snapshot of cancer statistics collected from 184 countries in 2008.
The incidence and death rate estimates were recorded on the Globocan database compiled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Source  - Independent