Medical advances have contributed to a near doubling of life expectancy over the past century and will produce more than 1 billion individuals over age 60 worldwide. However, this monumental achievement has also fueled dramatic increases in the incidence of diseases such as cancer.
As a father to three teenagers, a son whose father lost his battle with cancer, and a physician-scientist specializing in cancer research, the facts about cancer deeply trouble me. Cancer will claim 100 million lives worldwide over the next 10 years. One in two men and one in three women will face cancer in their lifetime. Seventy percent of cancers occur in low- and middle- income countries, and an overwhelming majority of these populations do not have access to advanced cancer care. The economic impact of cancer will exceed $3 trillion annually while the social and emotional toll on patients and their families are incalculable.