Every year, 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and every year 7 million people die from the disease - accounting for nearly 1 in 5 of all deaths in developed countries. Medical experts believe that, if trends continue, these figures will have doubled by 2030.

Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide, and in 2002 around 1.4 million people were diagnosed with the disease. It is also one of the most lethal, with a survival rate of just 6%. This is second only to pancreatic cancer, where on average 2.5% of patients survive. The principal cause of lung cancer is smoking, accounting for 90% of cases.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men, with approximately 35,000 new diagnoses every year in the UK; and the most common type of cancer in women is breast cancer, with around 39,500 new diagnoses each year in the UK.

In 2008, a massive $219.2 billion was spent on cancer in the USA alone, which includes healthcare for patients and compensation for premature death or lost productivity.

The truth is that every one of these factors has an effect on the development of cancer.

Smoking tobacco is directly linked to the development of lung cancer and is responsible for 90% of lung cancer cases and for 29% of all cases of cancer, including cancers of the pancreas, liver and stomach.

Use of smokeless tobacco increases your chances of contracting cancers of the mouth and pancreas.

Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of mouth, liver, breast and stomach cancers. Furthermore, alcohol makes your mouth tissues more vulnerable to the cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke, so in conjunction with smoking, drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of contracting cancer significantly.

Eating healthily has an influence, as eating plenty of fibre reduces risks of breast and stomach cancers, and a healthy vitamin C intake protects from cancers of the stomach, pancreas and cervix. However, diets high in fat increases chances of contracting prostate, uterus and colon cancers.

Studies show that engaging in enough exercise and physical activity reduces your chances of getting cancer by 50%, and protects well against bowel and breast cancer.

Maintaining a healthy weight and BMI is also important, as being overweight can cause cancers of the breast and kidneys.

Too much exposure to the sun significantly increases the likelihood of developing skin cancer.

In addition, the radiation used by sunlamps or tanning booths to achieve your all-year-round will increase your risk of contracting skin cancer.

Exposure to certain chemicals, such as asbestos, arsenic, nickel or cadmium amongst many others can contribute to the development of cancer. Many of these chemicals can be found in everyday products such as pesticides, car exhaust, cosmetics and even in some chlorinated drinking water.