Currently over 60 percent of death cases in Iran are linked to wrong lifestyle, including unsuitable nutrition habits and smoking, sociologist Majid Abhari said.
Annually about 90,000 people become victims of cancer in the country and the number of cancer patients currently stands at 300,000, he told Mehr news agency. Abhari noted that cancer is one of the top reasons for deaths in Iran. “Air pollution, unhealthy food, obesity, physical inactivity are all predisposing factors for cancer. All these are preventable,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the number of cancer patients in Iran will double within 10 to 15 years, he warned.
Annual Increase
Earlier Iraj Khosronia, head of the Internal Medicine Association said that the incidence of cancer increases by 20 to 30% annually.
Statistics indicate that the number of people who die of cancer is higher in the country compared to other countries due to late diagnosis.
Breast cancer especially is high among Iranian women, Khosronia said, adding it topped the list of cancer incidences in Iran with some 30-32%, followed by skin cancer (23%) and gastrointestinal cancer (14%).
Khosronia further said that 14% of cancer patients die in the country, while the figure in some countries such as the U.S., Japan and Canada is lower than 10%.
