&gt; <i>Perhaps it was under diagnosed but I some blame it on &quot;westernization&quot; .</i><p>Scientifically, this does not hold water, because cancer is such a fundamental disease group that is inherent in the machinery of cells. There are two main factors at play in the apparent rise of cases. One is, as you said, cancers were generally not diagnosed before modern medicine arrived on the scene. The second is: people have to die <i>of something</i>, so when life expectancy goes up cancer rates skyrocket. People who would have died of infection ten years ago will now die of cancer in ten years from now.