New figures from Queen Mary University of London found half of us will develop cancer at some stage of our lives. This replaces a previous estimate of a third.
Cancer Research UK says more people will be diagnosed with cancer because we are living longer and a majority of people who get the disease are over 65 years old.
The charity says the NHS must improve and prepare for the amount of people requiring cancer treatment, however it also acknowledged cancer survival rates are better than ever.
Steve Fouch, from the Christian Medical Fellowship, told Premier's News Hour: "The biggest challenge is how well can the NHS respond to this, because it is going to have a huge impact on our resources and where the energy in the NHS is put.
"Because it's not just about treatment, it's all about screening and it's about picking up cancer early so you can prevent it becoming more severe and untreatable.
"And that's one of the issues of course, so many people don't get picked up early enough... An early diagnosis gives you a much better chance of survival with pretty much any kind of cancer.
"There's an awful lot you can do, if you just exercise thirty minutes a day by brisk walking three or four times a week, you can probably reduce your risk of getting cancer by something like thirty percent.
"The treatments have got considerably better, so even if you are given a diagnosis of cancer, your likelihood of surviving it is considerably better than it was even five or even ten years ago."
Doctors say losing excess weight, cutting down on red and processed meats, alcohol and tobacco, and doing regular exercise all reduce the risk of cancer.
