[Epidemiological characteristics of cancer in Asia]

Most nations in Asia are developing countries. Recently, in developed and developing countries cancer has become an important public health problem. This paper reviews the characteristics of cancer epidemiology in Asia and describes the cancer mortality, cancer incidence, migrant studies and current status of secondary prevention for cancer in several Asian countries. Unfortunately, mortality statistics and data on cancer incidence are frequently not available or not very accurate in most developing countries. Greater cooperation is hoped for between Japan and other Asian countries in order to obtain more exact information on cancer statistics and to draw up an accurate cancer map.