More than 18 million new cases of cancer are expected this year
and it’s estimated that 9.6 million people will die from various
forms of the disease in 2018, the UN’s International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC) said on Wednesday.
According to IARC, a specialized cancer
agency of the World Health
Organization, the disease is a growing global health threat.
One in five men and one in six women worldwide, develop cancer
during their lifetime, and one in eight men and one in 11 women
die from it, IARC’s ’s Global Cancer
Observatory says, in its first report since 2012.
“These new figures highlight that much remains to be done to
address the alarming rise in the cancer burden globally and that
prevention has a key role to play,” said IARC Director, Dr.
Christopher Wild.
“Efficient prevention and early detection policies must be
implemented urgently to complement treatments in order to control
this devastating disease across the world.”
Six years ago, there were an estimated 14.1 million new cancer
cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths, compared with 12.7
million and 7.6 million, respectively, in 2008.
Globally, it’s estimated that Asia will see nearly half of the
new cases and more than half of the cancer deaths in 2018, partly
because the region has nearly 60 per cent of the world’s
population.
Europe accounts for nearly a quarter of global cancer cases and
one-fifth of cancer deaths, although it has only nine per cent of
the global population.
The Americas have more than 13 per cent of the global population
but account for 21 per cent of cancers and some 14 per cent of
global mortality.
In Asia and in Africa, cancer deaths (57.3 per cent and 7.3 per
cent respectively) are higher than the number identified (48.4
per cent and 5.8 per cent).
This is because these regions have a higher frequency of certain
cancer types that are associated with poorer prognosis, and
higher mortality rates, IARC says, in addition to limited access
to diagnosis and treatment.
Lung cancer is a leading cause of death for both men and women
and is the leading cause of cancer death in women in 28
countries, IARC says.
The highest incidence rates of this form of the disease in women
are in North America, Northern and Western Europe - notably
Denmark and the Netherlands - China, and Australia and New
Zealand; with Hungary topping the list.
The findings suggest that many countries have much more to do to
prevent smoking-related cancers, although a significant number
have adopted measures to reduce smoking and exposure to
second-hand tobacco smoke.
“Given that the tobacco epidemic is at different stages in
different regions, and in men and women, the results highlight
the need to continue to put in place targeted and effective
tobacco control policies in every country of the world,” said Dr.
Freddie Bray, IARC’s Head of the Section of Cancer
Surveillance.
In addition to cancers of the lungs, those that target the female
breast and colorectal areas, are the most common types.
They are also among the five most dangerous forms of cancer,
representing one third of all cancer incidence and mortality
worldwide, according to IARC’s GLOBOCAN 2018 database, which
provides estimates of incidence and mortality in 185 countries
for 36 types of cancer.
IARC says that the increasing prevalence of cancer is due to many
factors, from population growth and ageing, while a change in the
types of cancer diagnosed is linked to social and economic
development.
This is particularly true in fast-growing economies, IARC says,
noting a shift from cancers related to poverty and infection, to
cancers associated with lifestyles more typical of industrialized
countries.
