Cancer just overtook heart and circulatory diseases as the leading cause of death in Canada.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, in 2005, 29% of 230,132 deaths were linked to cancer compared to 28% due to circulatory disease.
The future is not very encouraging because specialists predict cancer will remain the leading cause of death for years as a result of an aging population which keeps increasing.
Nationally, four cancers alone cause more than half of all deaths. In first place, lung cancer is the most diagnosed. It is followed by colon and rectal cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer.
The new data also shows that the disease affects more men, 51.7% compared to 48.3% of women. In Quebec, the cancer mortality rate is higher than in the Atlantic Provinces. British Columbia has the lowest mortality rate.