More middle-class South Africans are getting cancer but fewer of them are dying of it. New statistics on life insurance payouts released by insurer Liberty yesterday showed an increase in the percentage of insurance claims for deaths or diseases related to cancer - but the figures also showed that more people are living longer with cancer and many are beating it.Liberty's director for risk product innovation, Nicholas van der Nest, said: "In 2008, about 18% of life insurance or disability and dread disease claims were for cancer."Now 24% are cancer related ... a trend we have seen developing over the years."Van der Nest said that, with medical advances such as better screening programmes and more awareness of health and lifestyle factors, cancers are being diagnosed earlier and in younger patients, and people are now more likely to survive a cancer diagnosis.About 30% of disease or death claims paid to women were related to cancer claims. For men the figure was 21.7%, said Van der Nest.Women are more likely to contract breast and skin cancer, and men were most likely to suffer from prostate or skin cancer.Liberty's dread-disease payouts to people with cancer increased from 38% of all payouts in 2011 to 44.7% last year. A similar trend was experienced by insurers Hollard."Early detection means people are being diagnosed and treated, instead of going to a doctor with end-stage disease," said Susan Gonnerman, claims manager at Hollard Life.The CEO of Campaigning for Cancer, Lauren Pretorius, said that more sensitive diagnostic equipment led to better detection rates."An increase in cancer numbers between 2008 and now would not be because there is a higher incidence of the disease; it would be a consequence of better detection."But "if we look back 50 years there is more cancer now because people are living longer and because of unhealthy lifestyles"...