A new report says 202,400 Canadians will get the dreaded news they have cancer in 2016, including 77,700 in Ontario.
Canadian Cancer Statistics says two out of five Canadians will develop cancer at some point in their lives, and one in four will die of it. That's about 78,800 deaths in 2016 or nine deaths every hour across the country.
Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada and lung cancer causes more deaths than the other three top cancers combined. Half of all new diagnoses will be for cancers of the lung, breast, colorectal and prostate.
Most new cases are diagnosed in those over the age of 50. That accounts for 89% of all new cancers. As the population ages, the report notes cancer incidence will increase posing new challenges for the health care system.
Cancer in children remains rare, accounting for just 1% of new cases, but cancer is still the leading cause of disease-related death in those under 15 years.
The 142-page report shows that the net survival rate for those with cancer has improved to 60% overall. Some cancers have a very high rate of survivability, including thyroid at 98% and testicular at 96%.
The annual report was compiled by the Canadian Cancer Society, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The annual look at cancer statistics has been available since 1987. What's new in the report this year is a detailed analysis of cancers caused by HPV or the human papillomavirus which is related to 100 different cancers.
While all provinces and territories now offer the HPV vaccine free of charge to school-aged girls and most offer it to boys, in 2012 HPV-related cancers were diagnosed in 3,760 Canadians and 1,100 died.