Though, the advances and education campaigns have helped slash the death rate from cancer by nearly 16% in the last 20 years in the U. S., yet cancer has become the leading cause of death throughout the world.

More than 1.5 million people suffered from cancer and about 560,000 were killed due to the same in the year, 2009.

There can be two reasons behind this rise. Firstly, it is only at their later stages of life, that the people get afflicted with cancer and the population grows old. Secondly, more and more people getting addicted to smoking.

Giving up the habit of smoking reduces the risk of getting or dying of lung cancer, but a few people who have strong determination can quit the tobacco habit, even after they have been diagnosed with cancer.

Timmerman, a professor of radiation oncology and neurosurgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, revealed that about 20% of cancer patients who don’t quit smoking will develop another tumor in their lifetime.

Experts believe that due to a fall in the number of Americans who smoke, the cancer death rate in US men between 1990 and 2006 also decreased.

Being obese is another hindrance in winning war against this deadly disease.

American Cancer Society epidemiologist Susan Gapstur said, “Current estimates say around two-thirds of US adults are overweight or obese, and obesity and (being) overweight are now known to cause many types of cancer”.