May 31, 2012 -- Worldwide cancer rates are set to jump more than 75% by 2030.

And these rates may increase even further -- by 90% -- among less developed countries, according to what one leading New York City cancer doctor calls an "eye-opening" new report in the journal Lancet Oncology.

If the new predictions hold, 22.2 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2030, compared with 12.7 million in 2008.

The predictions are based on rates of new cancer cases and cancer deaths in 2008 from 184 countries worldwide. These findings were then used to project how the cancer burden is likely to shift by 2030.

Countries were ranked by their human development index (HDI), a standard measure of a country's developmental status that takes into account life expectancy, education levels, and economic factors. The U.S. is considered to have a very high HDI, while sub-Saharan Africa ranks much, much lower.

Many of these countries do not have accurate cancer registries, which can make it difficult to track what is going on now and what can be expected in the future.