With regard to cancer incidence worldwide, stomach and liver cancers are representative in Asia and bladder cancer is representative in the United States and Europe. In Australia and Sweden, melanoma of the skin is amongst the top 5 cancers in terms of incidence. Colorectal cancer and breast cancer rank highly in all countries studied. However, the incidence of colorectal cancer in Japan has been decreasing recently and has not been increasing in other countries, except for China. The incidence of breast cancer in the United States and Europe is twice as high as it is in Asian countries, and these rates have been increasing in all countries. With regard to cancer mortality worldwide, stomach and liver cancers are associated with high mortality rates in Asia, as is the case with incidence rates. In the United States and Europe, the mortality rate associated with ovarian cancer is relatively high. Lung and colorectal cancers rank highly in terms of mortality worldwide, and pancreatic cancer is also included in the top 5 cancers in all countries, except for China and Brazil.