Now, about 9,000 people are told each year that they have the disease.

One of the biggest increases was in colon or colorectal cancer, the top cancer here, which went up from about 1,220 cases a year between 1998 and 2002 to 1,500 cases annually between 2003 and 2006.

The number of people who die of it has also gone up, from about 420 a year to some 600 a year over the same periods.

The Health Promotion Board, which released the figures yesterday, blamed increases in smoking and drinking, along with a lack of physical activity, for the rise.

Colorectal cancer is a slow- growing disease, and can often be detected with a simple stool test. Prof Chia said early detection results in more than four in five people living beyond five years, compared to just 15per cent if it is diagnosed late.

Among women, the biggest threat came from breast cancer, which accounted for almost a third of their cancers. From 2001 to 2005, 6,405 women found they had this cancer - or more than 100 each month.

Ovarian cancer also went up from 211 cases a year between 1998 and 2002 to 250 a year from 2001 to 2005. Unlike breast cancer, which can be caught early with regular screening and treated successfully, ovarian cancer usually presents itself late and is often fatal.

Among men, prostate cancer has moved up from the fifth to the third most common type of the disease, with about 355 cases a year, up from 269 a year between 1998 and 2002.

While the higher number of cancer cases is fuelled in part by a larger population, the chances of people here getting the disease has also gone up.

About 249 per 100,000 women got cancer in the five years from 2001 to 2005, compared with 240 from 1998 to 2002.

Among men, it went up from 231 per 100,000 to 236 over the same periods.

Lung cancer is the biggest killer for both men and women, followed by colorectal and liver cancers for men, and breast and colorectal cancers for women.

salma@sph.com.sg