Evolving Cancer Paradigms: Contrasting Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Survival in Wealthy and Less Privileged Countries - 2012

While cancer survival rates continue to decrease in countries of sustained medium-high to high economic development as a result of the inception of novel diagnostic techniques and therapies, cancer incidence and mortality rates continue to grow in all parts of the world. Population expansion and aging, increasing exposure to environmental carcinogens, adoption of westernized diets based on highly processed foods, and an assortment of other factors contribute to the increasing figures. In addition, several underdeveloped countries are undergoing an epidemiologic transition from transmissible diseases to non-transmissible malaise including cancer, as their economic models evolve toward industrial development. Large data collection programs including Global Burden of Disease Collaboration, GLOBOCAN-2012, and CONCORD-3, in addition to the United Nations Development Program data, have been used here to provide a basis for discussing cancer rate differences in diverse areas of the world. Sharply contrasting cancer incidence and mortality rates emerge. Two indexes are suggested in an attempt to better comprehend the data and provide a measure of dependability in the collected registries.