(Yicai Global) Aug. 21 -- Lung cancer has the greatest incidence of all cases of the disease in China, a newly released research report says.

China has 36 percent of the world's lung cancer cases and 38 percent of deaths from the carcinoma, China News Service reported Aug. 19, citing the 2017 Malignant Tumor Discipline Development Report compiled by the China Anti-Cancer Association. The country has the largest number of lung cancer cases in the world, and the malignancy has gained ground on all other cancers in the country, the report said.

Many factors lead to cancer of the lungs, but smoking, population aging and severe air pollution are the main culprits, per the report.

China has 22 percent of the world's cancer cases and its largest pool of cancer patients, the report states, with the country's top five forms in order of frequency those of the lung, stomach, liver, colon and rectum and esophagus, with lung and breast cancer the number one each for Chinese men and women, respectively.

Editor: Ben Armour