«The Burden of Cancer in
Developing Countries: A Global Health Council Report
on the Cancer Advocacy and Learning Institute,» published in June of 2010, documents both the
incidence of the disease and a set of policy solutions.
Worldwide, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer.1 In the United Kingdom, its annual
incidence is second only to that of breast cancer, accounting for around 39000 new cancer diagnoses annually.2 In
countries that have seen a high prevalence of smoking, around 90 % of diagnoses of lung cancer are attributable to cigarette smoking.3 The increased
incidence from smoking is proportional to the length and intensity of smoking history.4
On average, a lifetime smoker has a 20-fold increase in the risk of
developing lung cancer compared with a lifetime non - smoker.1 Lung cancer is more common in men than in women, closely following past patterns of smoking prevalence, and 80 % of cases are diagnosed in people aged over 60.2