According to a new estimate, the number of cancer cases worldwide could increase by 77% by 2050 as the population ages.
According to a paper by American Cancer Society researchers that was published on Thursday in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, there were approximately 20 million incidences of cancer and 9.7 million deaths from the disease in 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
But according to Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, “we think that number will go up to 35 million by 2050, largely due to an increasing population in the aging population,” he told CNN.
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Many of the cancer risk factors that have historically been seen in high-income nations, such as obesity and tobacco use, are now spreading to low-income nations, according to Dahut. “These are nations lacking the resources to detect cancer early, treat it effectively, and prevent it in ways that are frequently carried out in other nations.”
The good news is that, according to experts, lifestyle modifications can reduce those risk factors.
Senior study author Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance & health equity science at the American Cancer Society, stated in a news release that “prevention offers the most cost-effective and sustainable strategy for cancer control, with over half of cancer deaths worldwide being potentially preventable.” “One in four cancer deaths, or about 2.6 million cancer deaths annually, could be prevented by eliminating tobacco use alone.”
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Another professional agreed.
According to Dr. Bilal Siddiqui, an oncologist and assistant professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, “about 50% of cancers are preventable,” despite the fact that cancer can have complicated, hereditary, or environmental causes.
“It’s important to make the key lifestyle changes that can reduce our risk for cancer, including stopping smoking, reducing alcohol intake, and staying physically active,” he added. “All patients should talk to their doctors to ensure they receive age-appropriate cancer screenings.”
Researchers used global cancer incidence and death data from the World Health Organization database, the Global Cancer Observatory, to create the new report.
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What was revealed by the data?
According to the research, the most prevalent cancer kinds were non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung, breast in women, colon, prostate, stomach, liver, thyroid, cervical, and bladder. The most common cancer-related cause of death was lung cancer, which was followed by leukemia, stomach, pancreas, colon, liver, breast cancer in women, esophageal, prostate, and cervical cancer.
The report states that tobacco is still “the principal cause of lung cancer.”
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Although there are cases of lung cancer that are unrelated to smoking, smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer. Thus, it is evident that significant work needs to be done both domestically and internationally to combat the smoking epidemic, according to Dr. Harold Burstein, an oncologist at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
“Screening for early cancer identification and improved outcomes are two more things people can do to lower their cancer mortality. Although mammography, colonoscopy, and Pap smear screening are widely available in the United States, numerous segments of the population still frequently underutilize them, the speaker noted. “In wealthier economies, such as the United States, there have been notable reductions in the death rates from colon and breast cancer, with early detection likely accounting for almost half of those declines.
However, Burstein pointed out that in lower- and middle-income countries around the world, cancer is becoming a “bigger health problem.”
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He remarked, “Cancer is a tidal wave coming into their communities.” In the majority of sub-Saharan Africa, screening mammograms are not available. In China, screening mammograms are not available. In many regions of the world, colonoscopies are not routinely performed.”
“Consequently, managing the increasing frequency of cancer cases, the requirement for prompt identification and screening, and the intricate treatment and management of cancer patients will pose a significant obstacle for healthcare systems that are already overburdened,” he continued.
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