New statistics on cancer in Bulgaria show a distinct gender difference, with lung cancer by far the most prevalent among men while for women, breast cancer is by far the most extensive form.

This emerges from a study published by Globocan, an online resource launched at the beginning of June 2010 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation.

Globally, according to cancer researchers at the WHO, the number of new cancer cases and deaths will double in the next 20 years.

By 2030, there will annually be nearly 21.4 million new cases diagnosed and more than 13.2 million deaths, compared to 12.7 million new cases and 7.6 million deaths in 2008, according to IARC, as quoted by the UN News Service.

The global projections are based on expected population aging and growth in the coming decades, assuming that underlying rates of cancer will remain constant during that time.

"These figures represent the most accurate assessment of the global cancer burden available at present and can be used in the setting of priorities for cancer control in different regions of the world," IARC director Christopher Wild said.

The body found that developed countries bear a higher cancer burden, both in terms of incidence and deaths.

Lung, breast and colorectal cancer are the most commonly diagnosed, while the most common causes of deaths due to cancer are lung, stomach and liver cancers.

Cervix and liver cancers are more common in poorer nations, while prostate and colorectal cancers are more widespread in developed ones.

Europe is home to nearly half of all cancer cases, followed by South America and Asia, IARC found.

In Bulgaria, according to Globocan 2008, the number of new cases of cancer was just more than 30 000, 15 600 men and 14 600 women.

Expressed as percentages, in Bulgaria the risk of getting cancer before the age of 75 was close to 26 per cent for men and just more than 20 per cent for women. For men, the risk of dying of cancer before 75 was about 16 per cent and for women, close to nine per cent.

In 2008, the five most frequent cancers among men were, in order, lung, colorectum, prostate, bladder and stomach; among women, breast, colorectum, corpus uteri, cervix uteri and ovary.

In February 2010, when Bulgaria joined in marking the World Day Against Cancer, media reports quoted Doctor Zdravka Valerianova, director of the National Specialist Oncology Hospital as saying that the number of cancer patients in Bulgaria had increased by two per cent in a year.

Currently, 223 000 people in the country had malignant cancers.

According to Professor Stefka Petrova, director of the National Public Health Protection Centre, when you know what the risk factors for cancer are, you can help yourself and reduce the risk considerably.

Noting that the theme of this year’s Day Against Cancer was that cancer can be prevented, she said that prevention depended on the location of the various types of cancer, with chances of prevention from 10 per cent to 90 per cent "depending on whether you are exposed to risk factors in your style of living and environment," she said.

The risk factors, according to Petrova, were smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, unhealthy diet, and excessive exposure to sun or ultraviolet light.

Separately, researchers said in 2009 that smoking on the beach is more dangerous than indoors because, they said, sunlight heightens the carcinogenic effects of tobacco.

Bulgarian professor Roumen Balanski, working with colleagues from Italy, tested the effects of sunlight in combination with tobacco. The research suggested that ultra-violet rays caused genetic changes not only to skin but also to internal organs such as the heart and lungs, and also bone marrow.