Disease without boundaries

[steaner]

Cancer occurs when cells are triggered to grow abnormally. Those triggers could include genetics, radiation, and carcinogens — and they go off with alarming frequency.
If current figures hold, approximately one in four Canadians can expect to die of cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. If you're a man, your odds are a little worse: 29 per cent of Canadian men will one day succumb to cancer. For women, the figure is 24 per cent.
Most people who are diagnosed with cancer will eventually die from it: 38 per cent of Canadian women and 44 per cent of Canadian men will one day be told by their doctors that they have some form of cancer.
Lung cancer continues to claim more lives (20,200) than any other cancer — more than colorectal (8,900), breast (5,400) and prostate (4,300) cancers combined.
In 2008, just over 166,000 Canadians were diagnosed with cancer, with almost 74,000 losing their battles. There were more new cases of prostate cancer (24,700) — which strikes men only — as there were diagnoses of breast cancer in women (22,400).
That's the bad news. The good news is that we're getting a lot better at detecting, fighting and beating most cancers. Mortality rates are falling for men in all groups and for women under the age of 70. And rates are falling the most for children and adolescents