New WHO report says new cancer cases will more than double worldwide in the next two decades. It found that sales of tobacco are “inextricably linked” to the expected surge in cancer. Xu congjun/Imaginechina via AP Images

New cancer cases worldwide are expected to increase by 57 percent by 2032, according to a report released Monday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Announcing the findings of its World Cancer Report 2014, WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) called on governments to make much better use of vaccines and preventive public-health policies because treatment alone cannot stem the disease.

The agency warned that the rate of cancer was growing "at an alarming pace" worldwide and new strategies were needed to curb the sometimes fatal and often costly disease.

"It's untenable to think we can treat our way out of the cancer problem. That alone will not be a sufficient response," Christopher Wild, IARC's director and a co-editor of the report, told reporters at a London briefing.

"More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed ... to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in the cancer burden globally."

The World Cancer Report, which is produced roughly every five years, was released on the eve of World Cancer Day on Tuesday and involved the collaboration of about 250 scientists from more than 40 countries.

The report noted the role of Big Tobacco in contributing to a likely surge in lung cancer cases in particular, saying its sales drive was "inextricably linked" to the rise.

It said access to effective and relatively inexpensive cancer drugs would significantly cut death rates, even in places where health-care services are less developed.

The spiraling costs of cancer are hurting the economies of even the richest countries and are often way beyond reach in poorer nations. The total economic cost of cancer in 2010 was estimated at about $1.16 trillion.

Yet approximately half of all cancers could be avoided if current knowledge about cancer prevention were properly implemented, Wild told reporters.