Campaigners are seeking to highlight the growing threat to women as the world marks World Cancer Day tomorrow.
Obesity and increased rates of smoking are all contributing to the number of women who develop cancer catching up with men, according to Cancer Research UK.
The number of women diagnosed with ovarian, cervical and oral cancers is expected to rise especially sharply over the next two decades, the charity says.
Campaigners say investing in improved diagnosis and treatment is the key to responding to rising numbers.
The charity says that 4.5 million women and 4.8 million men in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer by 2035.
Globally some 6.7 million women and 7.4 million are diagnosed with cancer every year.
Supporters of World Cancer Day in the UK are being encouraged to wear a "Unity Band", made of two parts, knotted together. The campaign is being backed by ten charities.
Cancer Research UK chief executive Sir Harpal Kumar said: “These new figures reveal the huge challenge we continue to face, both in the UK and worldwide. Research is at the heart of finding ways to reduce cancer’s burden and ensure more people survive, particularly for hard-to-treat cancers where the outlook for patients is still bleak.
“The latest figures show that more than eight million people die from cancer each year across the world. More people die from cancer than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis put together."
He added: "With more investment into research, we hope to make big improvements over the next 20 years in diagnosing the disease earlier and improving and developing treatments so that by 2034, three in four people will survive their disease.”
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