Globally, cancer is a leading cause of death and presents a significant challenge to public health. Despite major therapeutic advances across recent decades, most reductions in the burden of cancer have been attributed to improvements in prevention, screening, and diagnosis. New global analysis from the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Agency for Research on Cancer further highlights the opportunity to target the burden of cancer with risk factor reduction efforts. Published this week in Nature Communications, Hanna Fink and colleagues offer renewed evidence of the value of prevention, with an estimated 37% of all incident cancer cases in 2022 being related to preventable causes.
This study used data from the Global Cancer Observatory database, a harmonised database of cancer registry data from 185 countries, to estimate the proportion of cancer cases attributable to each preventable risk factor. The study examined 30 preventable risk factors, including tobacco, excess weight, and air pollution. Notably, the study also assessed the contribution of nine cancer-causing infections for the first time. They found that the leading preventable risk factors were tobacco, infections, and alcohol consumption, which collectively were responsible for 28% of all new cancer cases worldwide. Among the 36 cancer types analysed, lung, stomach, and cervical cancers accounted for nearly half of all preventable cases globally. Interestingly, the study revealed that the proportion of new cases attributable to preventable risk was higher in men (45%) than in women (30%). Regionally, the highest burden of preventable risk was observed in East Asia (57% of new cases), compared to the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean (28%).
GlobalData epidemiologists forecast that in the 16 major markets (16MM: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and South Korea), diagnosed incident cases of non-small cell lung cancer in men and women will increase from 1.5 million cases in 2026 to 1.8 million cases in 2032. Therefore, these findings provide renewed evidence that supports increasing efforts at prevention strategies to reduce the overall burden of cancer. The differences regionally and by sex highlight key targets for risk factor reduction. Given that these risk factors are also key contributors to other long-term health conditions, addressing them could not only reduce the burden of cancer, but also reduce the overall burden of disease.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
