Official estimates of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) say that cancer will surpass heart diseases as the most fatal condition on the planet by 2010. The incidence of cancer cases is growing exponentially by the decade, with as much as 12.4 million people being diagnosed with some form of the condition this year alone. At the end of 2009, as much as 7.6 million people will have died because of cancer, according to the same WHO figures.

"The global cancer burden doubled in the last 30 years of the 20th century, and it is estimated that this will double again between 2000 and 2020 and nearly triple by 2030," the report says, bringing new concerns over the safety of the majority of the world's population, which still lives in poverty and unsuitable conditions, with limited or no access to essential things, such as water and medical assistance.

The report, devised by WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), draws attention to the fact that it's individual choices that have the most importance in the onset of cancer. Lung cancer, for example, is triggered by intense smoking, especially in poor countries, where limited funds don't allow for any other kind of relaxation. Colo-rectal, stomach and esophageal cancers are associated with an unbalanced diet that renders the immune system useless.

China and India are especially at risk of developing millions of cases of lung cancer over the next two to three decades, because some 40 percent of all smokers in the world live in just these two countries. Authorities will have to take drastic action, if they are to reduce this threat in time.

"There are more deaths in the world from cancer than from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined," said Peter Boyle, an IARC representative, during a new conference.

As of now, progress is slow, and research on various types of cancer is still on-going. However, there are numerous approaches to be analyzed, and many obstacles to be overcome, if an effective treatment is to be devised. The US, Europe and Japan lead the way in innovation related to developing cures for various cancers. But, thus far, medics agree that prevention is the best defense against the terrible disease.