Europe's ageing population is leading to an increase in cancer with 300,000 new cases diagnosed each year, researchers said today.
An estimated 3.2 million people in Europe were diagnosed with the disease in 2006, compared to 2.9 million two years earlier - 1.7 million died from the illness.
Lung cancer, most of which is caused by smoking, is the biggest killer with about 334,800 deaths, followed by colorectal, breast and stomach cancer.
"Cancer remains an important public health problem in Europe and the ageing of the European population will cause these numbers to continue to increase, even if age-specific rates of cancer remain constant," said Professor Peter Boyle, the director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France.
The population of the European Union is expected to remain constant at about 500 million. But between the year 2000 and 2015 there will be a 22 per cent increase in the number of people over 65 and a 50 per cent rise in those over 80.
Cancer occurs more frequently in older people. Longer exposure to carcinogens, radiation and tobacco increases the susceptibility of developing the illness.
"The longer you are exposed in general terms, the higher your risk of developing cancer," said Prof Boyle.
In a report published in the journal Annals of Oncology, Dr Boyle warned more needs to be done particularly in Central and Eastern Europe to curb the increase in leading cancers.
"I think the biggest disaster is the number of people who die from cancers related to cigarette smoking," he added.
He estimated that if people didn't smoke, cancer deaths in Europe could be cut by between a third and 40 per cent.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in European men and women but organised screening programmes can be effective in diagnosing the illness, according to Prof Boyle.
Mammograms have increased the detection of breast cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer overall, but deaths rose from 130,000 in 2004 to 131,900 in 2006.