According to the national Cancer Registry, more than 14,000 people in Slovenia were diagnosed with cancer last year, with more than 8,000 or 55% of those being men.

Around 6,000 people in Slovenia die of cancer every year, with the most common forms of cancer in the country being skin, colon, lung, breast and prostate cancer.

In Slovenia, more than 90,000 people have been diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. According to projections, one out of two men and one out of three women born in 2012 will get cancer by the age of 75.

According to the OECD's Health at glance publication, Slovenia is second in terms of cancer mortality rate among the 34 countries of the organisation. Oncologist Branko Zakotnik believes that this is primarily a consequence of poor management of cancer in men.

The of cancer patients in Slovenia is expected to increase, as cancer is closely related to ageing. Out of all cancer patients registered in 2011, 58% were diagnosed with cancer after reaching the age of 65.

The most common form of cancer in men is prostate cancer, with more than 1,400 men being diagnosed in 2012. It is followed by lung cancer (872) and colon cancer (534), according to the Cancer Registry. Lung cancer was responsible for most deaths (almost 800).

For women, the most common form of cancer is breast cancer (almost 1,300 new cases in 2012), followed by colon cancer and lung cancer (almost 400 each). Breast cancer was also responsible for most deaths among women (almost 400).

World Cancer Day, declared by the Union for International Cancer Control in 2008, is marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment.

According to the World Health Organization, around 14 million people get diagnosed with cancer every year, and around 8.2 million people died of cancer in 2012. Cancer claims more lives every year than AIDS; malaria and tuberculosis combined.