A new report from the World Health Organization warns that cancer rates around the world will experience a 57 percent surge over the next 20 years.
That would mean cancer diagnoses would rise from an estimated annual total of 14 million to 22 million. Deaths from cancer are also expected to rise during the same period, from 8.2 million deaths a year to 13 million.
The WHO’s World Cancer Report says that health care providers around the world will not be able to address the problem by simply treating cancer patients. In fact, the report argues that current cancer treatment costs — estimated at an annual $1.16 trillion — are already hurting major world economies.
Instead, the organization advises that governments focus on prevention and early diagnoses.
"We cannot treat our way out of the cancer problem," Christopher Wild, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, told CNN. "More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in cancer burden globally."
If there’s any positive note in the study, which combined data from more than 40 countries, it’s that upwards of 50 percent of all cancer cases are deemed preventable through a combination of diet, exercise and early detection.
