The increasing use of tobacco will turn cancer into the No. 1 killer worldwide by 2010, global health experts warned Tuesday.

According to a report released by the U.N. World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, about 12.4 million cases of some form of cancer will emerge this year with approximately 7.6 million people dying from the disease.

By 2030, an estimated 26.4 million individuals each year may be diagnosed with cancer and about 17 million people may die from it. 40% of the world's cigarette smokers live in China and India, the American Cancer Society estimated. "There are more deaths in the world from cancer than from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined," the IARC's Peter Boyle said.

Currently, cardiovascular diseases rank as the world’s No. 1 killer, to some extent for the reason that treatments known to make a difference are often disregarded. On the word of American Cancer Society Chief Executive Officer John Seffrin, cancer will pass heart disease as the top killer, partially due to better diagnosis of cancer.

The WHO report disclosed that the most common factors in rising cancer cases are increasing incidence of tobacco use in poor countries – as many rich nations have successfully attempted to reduce smoking – and the aging populations, since the deadly disease is more common in seniors.

The report was released at a press conference aimed at highlighting the global problem of smoking, as there are some developed nations that still don’t recognize cancer as a growing health problem. "If we take action, we can keep the numbers from going where they would otherwise go," Seffrin said.