Edited by Sotiris Missailidis, The Open University, UK
© 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Cancer remains a major cause of mortality worldwide. In 2006 in Europe there were an estimated 3.2 million cancer cases diagnosed (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) and 1.7 million deaths from cancer (Ferlay et al., 2007). According to the World Health Organization (www.who.int), from a total of 58 million deaths worldwide in 2005, cancer accounts for 7.6 million (or 13 %) of all deaths.
Cancer rates are predicted to further increase if nothing changes, mainly due to steadily ageing populations in both developed and developing countries and current trends in smoking prevalence and the growing adoption of unhealthy lifestyles. It is estimated that almost half of cancer cases can be prevented by infection control, adoption of a healthy lifestyle (diet and exercise) and tobacco abstinence.
Early diagnosis and effective treatment can further dramatically decrease cancer mortality. In the therapeutic area, the hope is to turn many cases of fatal cancer into ‘manageable’ chronic illness, as it has
happened with other disease entities.