Liver cancer
Globally, , liver cancer resulted in 754,000 deaths, up from 460,000 in 1990, making it the third leading cause of cancer death after lung and stomach. In 2012, it represented 7% of cancer diagnoses in men, the 5th most diagnosed cancer that year. Of these deaths 340,000 were secondary to hepatitis B, 196,000 were secondary to hepatitis C, and 150,000 were secondary to alcohol. HCC, the most common form of liver cancer, shows a striking geographical distribution. China has 50% of HCC cases globally, and more than 80% of total cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa or in East-Asia due to hepatitis B virus. Cholangiocarcinoma also has a significant geographical distribution, with Thailand showing the highest rates worldwide due to the presence of liver fluke.
War on Cancer
Though there has been significant progress in the understanding of cancer biology, risk factors, treatments, and prognosis of some types of cancer (such as childhood leukemia) since the inception of the National Cancer Act of 1971, progress in reducing the overall cancer mortality rate has been disappointing. Many types of cancer remain largely incurable (such as pancreatic cancer)
and the overall death rate from cancer has not decreased appreciably since the 1970s.
The death rate for cancer in the U.S., adjusted for population size and age, dropped only 5 percent from 1950 to 2005.
Cancer was expected to surpass cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in the world by 2010, according to the World Health Organization's "World Cancer Report 2008". As of 2012, WHO reported 8.2 million annual deaths from cancer
Heart disease (including both Ischaemic and hypertensive) accounted for 8.5 million annual deaths. Stroke accounted for 6.7 million annual deaths.
There is evidence for progress in reducing cancer mortality. Age-specific analysis of cancer mortality rates has had progress in reducing cancer mortality in the United States since 1955. An August 2009 study found that age-specific cancer mortality rates have been steadily declining since the early 1950s for individuals born since 1925, with the youngest age groups experiencing the steepest decline in mortality rate at 25.9 percent per decade, and the oldest age groups experiencing a 6.8 percent per decade decline.
Dr. Eric Kort, the lead author of this study, claims that public reports often focus on cancer incidence rates and underappreciate the progress that has been achieved in reduced cancer mortality rates.