Global rates of breast and lung cancer have doubled in the past 30 years, British researchers say.

The increase is attributed largely to a population that is living longer, since cancer can be a disease of aging cells.

It is estimated that worldwide there are 24.6 million people alive who have received a diagnosis of cancer in the last five years. Around half of these people live in Europe and North America.

The combination of a growing population and an increase in rates means rising numbers of people are being diagnosed with cancer.

From 1975 to 2002, the number of worldwide cases diagnosed each year:
  • Jumped from 600,000 to 1.4 million for lung cancer.
  • Increased from 500,000 to 1.1 million for breast cancer.

More people are smoking in the developing world.
More people are smoking in the developing world.

Among the positive trends, stomach cancer and cervical cancer rates fell as hygiene and screening programs improved in the developed world.

Rates of stomach cancer, the most common type in 1975, also benefited from improvements in food preservation.

Stomach cancer is now the fourth most common type, behind lung, breast and colorectal cancer.

Every year, 10.9 million people around the world are diagnosed with cancer and 6.7 million die from the disease.

Globally, about 12 per cent of deaths are due to cancer, according to the report by the charity Cancer Research UK.

The most commonly diagnosed cancers are lung, breast, bowel, stomach, prostate and osaphageal. The biggest killers are lung, stomach and liver cancer.

The report's authors analysed data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer or IARC, which compares cancer incidence and death rates between continents.

Lung cancer rates often rise decades after the number of smokers in a country peaks.

In places like eastern Africa, central and southeast Asia where more people are lighting up, lung cancer rates are therefore forecast to rise until 2025.

Rates in general will continue to rise worldwide because the proportion of people aged 60 or older is estimated to rise from the current 10 per cent to 22 per cent in 2050.

In a release, the agency said half of all cancers could be prevented in people: stop smoking, stay in shape, eat and drink healthily, stay sun smart, and "look after number 1."