By Brian Carnell

Friday, January 11, 2002

Speaking at a cancer conference, cancer researcher Julian Peto argued that the widely held perception that the world was on the verge of a massive increase in cancer incidence was misleading. Peto argued that the increase in cancer incidence in the West is due largely to changes in population and detection rates combined with the elimination of other fatal diseases.

Peto, who heads the department of epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, noted that, "Take away the cancer deaths caused by tobacco and the reality is that deaths from cancers linked to other causes are stable or falling."

Cancer rates have increased by 20 to 30 percent in Great Britain since 1970, but Peto maintains this is due largely to an increase in the average age of the population, the continuing problem with obesity (which is the most important risk factor for cancer after smoking), as well as improvements in cancer detection.

Source:

No 'cancer explosion' predicted. The BBC, October 20, 2001.

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