When the stunning, young Lisa Ray broke the news of her cancer and blogged about it, the agony and immediacy of the deadly disease entered public consciousness like never before. The once long-and-wavy-haired model-actor was lucky (this is a post-recovery picture of her). Millions in India, done in by tobacco, increasingly unhealthy food habits, stress, pollution and sometimes just karma, aren't that fortunate. With the WHO projecting that the country's cancer population will treble by 2020 and grow by a staggering 20 per cent every year from then on, the disease is assuming epidemic proportions. Worldwide, too, it is a clear and present danger: WHO says one in every three persons will be affected by it by 2020. If that happens - though science is desperately trying to outpace cancer's growth - India, with its poverty and lack of awareness, will likely be hit even harder. TOI-Crest puts one of the country's most disturbing health challenges under the scanner.