ABSTRACT
Cancer constitutes an enormous burden on society, being the second most common cause of death, surpassed only by cardiovascular diseases. Based on GLOBOCAN estimates, in 2012 alone about 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurred worldwide, corresponding to 3 out of every 10 deaths. What is worse, due to the growth and aging of the population, as well as an increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related risk factors such as smoking, physical inactivity, and overweight, cancer incidence is ever increasing in a snowballing effect some refer to as “a rising cancer epidemic.” On the upside, these dire statistics have partially been offset by the fact that more effective drugs and treatment regimens have been brought forth to clinical management of patients, and, as a result, cancer survival in most developed countries has effectively doubled in the last 40 years. The problem is that we need to continuously improve patient treatment and nd more effective therapies to be able to cope with the increasing cancer incidence.
