On this World Cancer Day we have learned a very positive fact about this tough disease: the number of deaths has fallen compared to previous years. These figures from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology show a decrease of 1.3%.
This positive figure is due to advances in treatments and the incorporation of personalized therapies, but also to the increase in screening tests. This growth in the population that is screened has a positive impact on the number of deaths, although it also means a greater number of diagnoses, specifically 9.6% more in 2012 than in 2008, according to SEOM data.
The fight against cancer continues. In Spain it is the second cause of death and the increase in life expectancy, together with the greater number of screening tests, means that more and more people are being diagnosed with cancer, although we have fewer and fewer deaths in proportion to previous years.
It should be noted that colorectal cancer is the most common cancer in Spain, with more than 32,000 diagnoses in 2012. Among men the most common is prostate cancer and in women breast cancer, the latter is one of the ones that continues to rise.
From Top Doctors we join the fight that people suffering from cancer face every day.