ABSTRACT
Cancer is a diverse collection of life-threatening diseases caused by abnormal and invasive cell proliferation. It accounts for about 20% of deaths in the industrialized countries; worldwide, there are some 14 million new cases of cancer in adults each year, and half of these people will die from the disease. Cancer is largely a disease of older people-the median age for cancer is 70 yearsand in the industrialized societies, where both life expectancy and the average age of the population are increasing, so is fear of cancer.
