The United Nations issued a report, through its Cancer Research Agency this week, that highlighted some sobering statistics.  The report stated that by 2030, 13 million people will die each year of cancer. In 2008, 7.6 million people died of cancer and 12.7 million were diagnosed with cancer around the globe.  Where are the new cases of cancer occurring? Thirty-six percent occured in developing countries, and these regions account for 67% of the cancer deaths. The most commonly diagnosed cancers in 2008 were: lung, breast, and colon and rectal cancers. The majority of cancer deaths were attributed to lung, stomach, and liver cancers.  The 2009 American Cancer Society statistics demonstrated that cancer deaths in the U.S. were number 2 behind heart disease.  Heart disease accounted for 26%  (631,636) of deaths in the U.S. followed by cancer (559,888) with 23.1% of deaths. U.S. men died of lung, prostate, and colon and rectal cancers;  U.S. women died of lung, breast, and colon and rectal cancers.  No matter where you live, the cancers that are killing people are similar. I guess were not so different after all.

For those of us that live in the U.S. and other developed nations, we are lucky!  We have access to to cutting-edge cancer detection and treatments that may one day save our lives. Unfortunately developing countries aren't so lucky. They don't have access to the technology that we do.  What can be done to help the people in these developing nations? Some people may say it's not our problem since it doesn't directly effect us.  I say we need to think differently. Cancer prevention, detection, and treatment must become a world concern.  What can you do to help?