A new report by the Canadian Cancer Society predicts that almost one in every two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and one in four Canadians will die from the disease.
The report estimates that more than 206,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year and almost 81,000 will die of a malignancy.
Canadian Cancer Society epidemiologist Leah (LEE'-ah) Smith says the number of new cases is a reflection of Canada's growing and aging population.
Smith says about 90 per cent of all the cancers expected to be diagnosed in 2017 will be among those aged 50 and older.
Four cancers -- prostate, breast, lung and colorectal -- continue to top the list of the most common malignancies, which together are expected to account for more than half the cancer diagnoses in 2017.
Lung cancer -- predicted to hit 21-thousand-100 this year -- continues to be responsible for the most cancer deaths, exceeding the 19-thousand-200 deaths expected from all three of the other cancers combined.
The Cancer Society has put a special emphasis in its report on pancreatic cancer, which at eight per cent has the lowest five-year survival of the 23 cancers it reports on.
