Chinese medical experts are suggesting mortality rates for cancer are set to keep rising over the next 20 years. A new survey by the National Central Cancer Registry shows about 3.3 million people were diagnosed with cancer in 2011. Two-thirds of those diagnosed with the disease die from it in China.

 

The same survey shows that over the past decade, the number of cancer cases and cancer-caused deaths have been rising significantly. A forecast by the International Agency on Research for Cancer says without effective measures, the death toll in China will reach 3 million in the next 5 years.

 

Lung cancer remains the top killer, with around 530 thousand dying every year. Around 80 percent of lung cancer patients in Beijing are in the terminal stages while in Europe and North America the proportion is around 50 percent.