12 million people worldwide diagnosed with cancer each year

The number of new cancer cases has soared by a fifth in less than a decade and now stands at 12 million a year, according to new figures.

This is more than four times the annual number of new HIV infections.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) said it believed that 2.8 million cases of cancer are linked to poor diet, lack of exercise and being overweight — a figure expected to rise dramatically in the next decade.

The figures were released ahead of a United Nations meeting on diseases, including cancer, later this month. The WCRF said there was a “once in a generation” opportunity to reverse the trend.

"The truth is the number of cases around the world is going up partly because we are an ageing population, but also because of changes in lifestyle,” Professor Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for WCRF, told the BBC.

"As countries become more urbanised, they become more prone to the Western diseases that we are used to seeing. Not just cancers — coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity and lung diseases,” he added.

Prof Wiseman also warned that many people were still unaware that risk factors such as alcohol and obesity affect cancer risk.