London: Being diagnosed with cancer is now a more common event in life than getting married or having the first baby, a research in the UK has found.
Researchers found that there are more than 70,000 new cancer cases each year in the UK than new marriages.
The latest figures also show that there are almost 50,000 new cancer cases each year in England and Wales than women giving birth to their first child.
According to the report by the British support organization Macmillan Cancer Support, a similar number of undergraduate degrees awarded each year in the UK compared to new cancer cases.
Cancer affects many people in the prime of life. More than 1.2 million people have been diagnosed with cancer under the age of 65 in the last 10 years, including more than 340,000 diagnosed in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Research has found that while receiving a diagnosis of cancer is an increasingly common event of life, it is the disease people the most fear they get.
For one in 10 people in the UK, cancer is the greatest fear of all, before losing a loved one, their own death or even terrorism.
The report highlights that people’s perceptions and fears about cancer may be futile to help them understand their options when they are diagnosed.
When they were first told they had cancer, one in three people (34 percent) said they were stunned and could not take anything.
As one in two people will get cancer at some point in their lives and more people live longer after cancer, the researchers wanted the public to have a better understanding of the reality of a cancer diagnosis.
“If you are told that you have cancer, it changes your life, and it can leave people feeling like they have been pushed into the unknown, bewildered and unprepared,” said Lynda Thomas, executive director of Macmillan Cancer Support.
“But as more and more people are being diagnosed with cancer, it’s important that everyone is better informed about what to expect if one day we get this shocking news,” Thomas said.
