Cancer Diagnoses Will Top 500,000 Each Year By 2040

The number of people in the UK diagnosed with cancer will rise by a third by 2040, taking the number of new cases every year to more than half a million for the first time, experts predict.

- Jane Dalton

Analysis by Cancer Research UK finds that, on current trends, cancer cases will rise from the 384,000 cases diagnosed every year now to 506,000 in the next 17 years.

The charity warned that the NHS risked being "overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new cancer diagnoses" unless the government acted.

While most of the rise is due to an ageing population - as older people are more likely to get cancer - the charity also said obesity and smoking will contribute to the rise.

Around four in 10 cancer cases are preventable - and these two factors are the biggest preventable causes.

If recent trends continue, smoking could cause around a million cancer cases in the UK up to 2040, Cancer Research UK said, while more people are expected to be obese than a healthy weight.