In a prepared statement, Cancer Research UK has said that one out of every two people will develop cancer at some point during their lives. The estimate, which the group said uses a new method of calculation, replaced a prior forecast of over one in every three people developing cancer.
However, the good news was that survival figures from cancer are also on the rise.
The somewhat sudden jump in the number of estimated diagnoses is due to researchers having developed a more accurate and sophisticated method of analyzing the risk of developing cancer.
Close to 54% of men at some point will develop the disease in their lifetime while just less than 48% of women will do the same.
Fewer deaths from infections and heart disease mean people are living longer and eventually develop cancer.
However, researchers say it is not inevitable. The researchers said that there was a great deal that could be done to prevent cancer and hopefully over a period of years to come, the estimates will be proven wrong and in actuality, they will be much lower.
Researchers were referring to changing lifestyle factors such as consumption of red meat, smoking, obesity that can help the development of certain cancers.
In women, the cases of lung of cancer are on the rise. Prostate and breast cancer will likely stay the most common forms of cancer for men and women respectively.
However, there are certain cancers that are rapidly becoming common.
In clinics, tumors inside the food pipe that are caused from acid reflux in those obese are being seen more and more.
Neck and head cancers that are caused by the human papillomavirus have increased and it is thought that oral sex is behind the increase.
Medical care providers insist more is needed in prevention and the strategies involved to make sure that cancer are caught during the early stages.