Breast cancer’s surpassed lung cancer as the most common form of the disease, accounting for almost 12% of new cases every year around the world.

That from the World Health Organization (WHO) ahead of World Cancer Day on Thursday.

Approximately 2.3-million new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in 2020.

”For the first time, breast cancer now constitutes the most commonly occurring cancer globally,” Andre Ilbawi, a cancer specialist at the WHO.

”Among women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide,” according to a statement from the WHO.

Obesity in women was a common risk factor and is behind overall cancer numbers.

As the global population grows and life expectancy increase, cancer’s expected to become more common, rising from 19.3-million last year to some 30-million new cases annually in 2040.

Lung cancer was the most common type for the past two decades but is now in second spot, ahead of colorectal cancer.