One in every three men and one in every four women will get cancer according to a study published today.

Ramón Colomer, president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, confirmed in his report today that 'more people fall victim to cancer every year, but that early detection is improving all the time and with it the number of people who survive the illness'.

According to official calculations, there were 219,000 cases of cancer in 2008, nearly 20,000 more than the previous year.

Men are most affected by prostrate cancer, followed by lung cancer and then colon cancer.

Breast cancer is still the most common form of cancer amongst women, followed by gynaecological cancers (cervix, ovaries, uterus) then colon cancer.

Between 1990 and 2000 survival rates for men increased from 44% to 49.5% and for women from 56.4% to 59%.

The future of oncology, according to Colomer, is 'working to avoid the appearance of tumours, improving the detection rates in the early stages, and increasing the effeciency of cancer treatment whilst decreasing its toxicity'.

According to Colomer, a great deal of work is being done to tailor treatment to each individual, taking into account not only the characteristics of each tumour, but also the genetic characteristics of each patient.