Cancers may have caused some 2.8 million deaths in China in 2015, which means more than 7,500 people die of cancer every day, according to a study by Chinese scholars

"With increasing incidence and mortality, cancer is the leading cause in China and is a major public health problem," said the study published by the US medical journal "CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians."

It also estimated that nearly 4.3 million were diagnosed in 2015, with 12,000 new cases daily.

The figures marked a sharp rise in new diagnoses. Figures released in 2013 estimated that there were 3.12 million new diagnoses and over two million deaths in 2012.

The figures in the study are not actual numbers, but are estimates based on data trends from 72 local, population-based cancer registries between 2009 and 2011, which is now available through the NCCRC and represents 6.5 percent of the total population.

It said lung, stomach, esophageal, liver and colorectal cancers were the most common ones in men, accounting for about two-thirds of all cases.

Breast, lung, stomach, colorectal and esophageal cancers were the most commonly seen cancers among women, it added.

Chen Wanqing, leading author of the study and director of the NCCRC told China National Radio that though air pollution is an important cause of lung cancer deaths, their accurate correlation must be decided by 10 to 20 years of data analysis.

Noting that smoking accounted for about one quarter of all cancer deaths in China, Chen said China's emphasis on smoking control is a good sign to prevent such deaths.

A good trend shown in the report is that mortality rates of cancers have decreased by about 21 percent for both men and women since 2006.

China should be prepared as the number of cancers deaths will still climb with the arrival of aging population, Chen said, adding the most important measure would still be on prevention.