World Cancer Day 2010, led by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), its members and with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), will raise awareness of cancer prevention.

Each year, over 12 million people receive a cancer diagnosis and 7.6 million die of the cancer disease.

The good news is that approximately 40% of cancers are potentially preventable. UICC invite you to join in marking World Cancer Day on 4 February by promoting our exciting new campaign and spreading the message that cancer can be prevented too.

Every year, 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and every year 7 million people die from the disease - accounting for nearly 1 in 5 of all deaths in developed countries. Medical experts believe that, if trends continue, these figures will have doubled by 2030.

This coming February, UICC will launch the campaign “Cancer can be prevented too”, focussing on how the risk of developing cancer can significantly be reduced through simple measures:

*Stop tobacco use or quit smoking and avoid exposure to second-hand smoke
*Limit alcohol consumption
*Avoid excessive sun exposure
*Maintain a healthy weight, through eating healthiest foods and exercising regularly
*Protect against cancer-causing infections

What is the common type of cancer?

Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide, and in 2002 around 1.4 million people were diagnosed with the disease. It is also one of the most lethal, with a survival rate of just 6%. This is second only to pancreatic cancer, where on average 2.5% of patients survive. The principal cause of lung cancer is smoking, accounting for 90% of cases.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men, with approximately 35,000 new diagnoses every year in the UK; and the most common type of cancer in women is breast cancer, with around 39,500 new diagnoses each year in the UK.

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