evidence: Among adults ages 35 to 70, cardiovascular disease still ranks as the leading cause of death globally, but the new research, published in the journal The Lancet on Tuesday, found that deaths from cancer are now more common than those from cardiovascular disease in some high-income and middle-income countries. [...] Meanwhile, there was a higher incidence of death from cancer than cardiovascular disease in high-income countries and some upper middle-income countries, according to the data. [...] "We are seeing a new epidemiologic transition – from heart disease to cancer as the leading cause of death – which is occurring first in high income communities," said Dr. Latha Palaniappan, lead author of that previous research and a professor of medicine at Stanford University Medical Center in California. She was not involved in the new studies.