Forecast: Breast Cancer to Be Second Most Common Cancer in 2020

Cancer experts forecast that breast cancer will be the second most common form of cancer in developed countries by the year 2020, but that total deaths will fall as doctors make progress in the fight against the disease.

The forecast came at the opening of the Third Global Conference for Cancer Organizations held in Brighton, England. The United Kingdom's Cancer Research Campaign used statistical analysis to predict that by 2020 the most common cancers in the developed world will be prostate, breast and colorectal.

Lung cancer, now the most common cancer and the biggest killer, will drop to fourth, followed by stomach cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which affects the lymph glands. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, will rise to eighth.

"We believe that over the next 20 years, developed countries like the UK will, through a reduction in smoking rates, improvements in diet and advances in treatment, start to get on top of the cancer problem," said Dr. Gordon McVie, director general of the CRC.

Other sources: London Media