Cancer is still one of the world’s leading causes of death, with over 10 million deaths and nearly 20 million new cases expected in 2022, according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday.
Here are five important facts about the disease ahead of World Cancer Day on Sunday:
One in five people
Cancer, a disease that causes abnormal cells to multiply and spread, affects humans and almost every other animal species, with evidence found in human remains dating back to prehistoric times.
There are over 100 forms of cancer, each with a unique diagnosis and therapy. Cancer will kill approximately one in nine males and one in every twelve women.
According to a research released on Thursday by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a projected 9.74 million people died from cancer in 2022, with 19.96 million new cases documented.
According to the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, one out of every five people may develop cancer at some point in their lives, with the number of global cases increasing by more than 25% between 2009 and 2019.
The IARC anticipated that the number of new cancer cases in 2040 will be 50% greater than the 19.96 million documented in 2022.
In 2050, the number is expected to be 77% larger than in 2022.
“There is a significant increase in the cancer burden,” stated Dr. Freddie Bray, head of the IARC’s cancer monitoring team.
Lung, breast, colon most common
The three most frequent malignancies are lung cancer (12.4 percent of all new cases in 2022), breast cancer (11.6 percent), and colon cancer (9.6 percent).
Lung cancer is the leading cause of mortality, accounting for 18.7 percent of all deaths, followed by colon cancer (9.3 percent), liver cancer (7.8 percent), and breast cancer (6.9 percent).
Europe disproportionately hit
In 2022, Asia, which has more than half of the world’s population, accounted for roughly half of all new cases.
What’s more startling is that Europe, including Russia, accounted for a quarter of all new cases, although representing less than 10% of the world’s population.
“Many countries in Europe have among the highest incidence rates of common cancers worldwide such as prostate and female breast,” he told AFP.
In contrast, Africa, home to one in every five people but with the world’s youngest population, accounted for less than 6% of cancer cases in 2022.
Africa’s youth can explain the low prevalence of many types of cancer, with the exception of cervical cancer, which is especially frequent in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Age a big factor
In 2022, over-55s accounted for three-quarters of all new cancer cases.
Despite representing over half of the world’s population, people under the age of 29 accounted for less than three percent of the cases.
The risk of cancer rises dramatically as people age because cells in the body become damaged over time and begin to act differently, eventually leading to cancer.
Some damage occurs by accident, while others are induced by external factors like as drinking, smoking, and UV radiation exposure.
Men more at risk
Cancer kills more men than women, with men accounting for 56 of every 100 cancer deaths, vs 44 for women.
The gap is primarily due to men’s higher smoking rates, which put them at a higher risk of lung cancer, the deadliest of all cancer forms.
However, Bray told AFP that women “endure almost the same burden of cancer overall and disproportionately so at younger ages”.