Cancer Will Strike 1 Out of Every 2 People in the U.K., Study Finds

One out of every two people in the U.K. will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer on Wednesday.

Other studies have forecast that the U.K.’s cancer rates would hit that level at some point in the future, but the newest finding, from the organization Cancer Research U.K., indicates that that moment has already arrived for anyone born after the early 1960s. The new figure updates a previous figure published by the organization, which pegged the U.K. cancer rate at more than one in every three people.

Researchers say this new, higher figure is partly due to advances that have allowed people to live longer.

“Cancer is primarily a disease of old age, with more than 60 percent of all cases diagnosed in people aged over 65. If people live long enough, then most will get cancer at some point. But there’s a lot we can do to make it less likely—like giving up smoking, being more active, drinking less alcohol and maintaining a healthy weight,” Peter Sasieni, a professor at Queen Mary University of London and one of the paper’s authors, said in a press release. “If we want to reduce the risk of developing the disease, we must redouble our efforts and take action now to better prevent the disease for future generations.”

These figures are not a major shock to anyone familiar with the subject. Cancer rates in the U.S. are extremely similar. According to the latest publication of the American Cancer Society, the lifetime risk of developing cancer is slightly less than one in every two for men, and slightly higher than one in every three for women.