42% of people will ‘develop cancer’ in Britain

CANCER rates are increasing at such a pace that four in ten people in Britain will be diagnosed with the disease at some point during their life, a health charity has warned.

Some 42% of people develop the disease during their lifetime and more than two thirds of those — 64% — will die as a result of the cancer, MacMillan Cancer Support said.

The charity said the number of cancer sufferers in Britain has risen by 35% over the last decade from 1.5 million in 1998 to 2 million in 2008.