The world is facing a cancer epidemic, which, on the one hand, tends to grow, but which, on the other, can be mitigated. Millions will die from preventable cancers in the coming decades unless something changes.
Outbreaks of infectious diseases or antimicrobial resistance are often labeled as global health crises. However, a quieter crisis has been gaining momentum for decades.
O cancer is increasing in all regions of the world, and the sharpest increases are now occurring in countries with fewer resources, such as South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
As part of the Global Burden of Disease Cancer 2023 Collaboration, a global partnership of scientists producing comprehensive estimates of disease and mortality, a major study was conducted that tracked cancer trends from 1990 to 2023 and projects what the world could face by 2050. Vikram Niranjanprofessor of public health at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Limerick (Ireland) details it in an article in .
For many years, cancer was widely seen as a disease of abundance, concentrated in high-income countries. Scientists now know that affects all regions and that an increasing proportion of the burden falls on low- and middle-income countries.
Many of these countries are now experiencing rapid lifestyle and environmental changes, but without the parallel development of screening, diagnostic or treatment capacity. The new study highlights how quickly this transition is occurring.
In 2023, the analysis estimated 18.5 million new cases of cancer and 10.4 million deaths in 204 countries.
Almost one in six global deaths was caused by cancer. More than two-thirds of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, reflecting the scale of the challenge in regions where access to screening, pathology and treatment remains limited.
It is necessary to change habits – and policies!
In the new study, 41.7% of cancer deaths in 2023 were attributable to modifiable risks. Tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diets, high body mass index, air pollution, and harmful workplace or environmental exposures everyone contributed.
Millions of cancers could be prevented every year if governments strengthened public health policies and made healthier choices easier.
Prevention is not just about people’s actions. It is shaped by political decisions about what people can afford, breathe, eat and find in their environments. Tobacco is a good example of this.
Let’s go in time to change
Research has revealed that by 2050, the world could face 30.5 million new cancer diagnoses every year and 18.6 million deaths annually, almost double the current rate.
Population growth and aging play a role, but broader changes in lifestyle, urbanization, air quality and economic development are also increasing exposure to cancer risks. Without major interventions, these trends will continue.
Addressing this crisis requires more than isolated initiatives. By investing in early diagnosis, governments can proactively offer screenings for cancers such as breast, cervical and colorectal — which save lives but remain rare in much of the world. THE Prevention must be treated as a global priority.
Tobacco control, air quality regulation, obesity prevention and workplace protections they are well founded and urgently need to be strengthened.
Os healthcare systems also require significant expansionfrom pathology labs and trained oncology staff to reliable access to affordable treatments.
High-quality data is essential too. Countries cannot plan or measure progress without robust cancer registries.
Epidemic among young people
The cancer it is no longer a condition that primarily affects older adults. In many regions, younger people are increasingly diagnosed with cancers historically seen later in life. For them, the consequences extend far beyond health.
Education, employment, relationships and financial stability can all be disrupted from one day to the next.
Projections are warnings, not certainties. Policymakers, communities and people still have the opportunity to influence what the world faces in 2050.
Os next 25 years are critical. There is knowledge to change course. What is needed now is collective (and political!) will to act.
