Cancer deaths may rise to 10M this year: report

The number of people around the world who have cancer is rapidly growing with 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million deaths in 2018 alone, researchers estimate.

By the end of the century, the disease will be the number one killer globally and the single biggest barrier to increasing our life expectancy, according to a report released from WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

The researchers used data from 185 countries,looking at all places in the body cancer can occur and taking a deeper look at 36 types.

Based on this data one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer during their lifetime and one in eight men and one in 11 women will die from the disease,the researchers estimate.

The number of cancer cases  is increasing for a number of reasons.The report says that  the global population is growing and more people means more cancer.

The population is also aging and cancer risks grow as you age.The numbers also look worse because in many countries stroke and heart disease deaths are declining.

The likelihood that you will get cancer or die from it depends on where you live.Nearly half of the new cancer cases and more than half the cancer deaths worldwide were in Asia,home to 60% of the worlds population.

The Americans however have their own serious problems with the disease, with 21percent of cancer incidences and 14.4percent of cancer deaths, despite having only 13.3percent of the worlds population.

Europe accounts for 23.4percent of cancer cases and 20.3percent of the deaths, but only 9percent of the world’s population.

The good news is that prevention efforts seem to pay off, the report says.

Countries with strong public awareness campaigns and laws that encourage people to quit smoking, such as Northern Europe and North America, have seen a decline in the number of cases of lung cancer.

Cervical cancer cases have declined in countries with concerted efforts to screen for it.

In countries with strong economies, the number of cancers coming from poverty and infections has declined, but those associated with what researchers call lifestyle choices, such as obesity and drinking have gone up.

Lung, breast and colorectal cancers are the ones people get the most.

Lung cancer is the most deadly, with 1.8 million deaths, 18.4percent of total cancer deaths for 2018, according to the report.

Colorectal comes in second for mortality, 881,000 deaths, and breast cancer fifth with 627,000 deaths. Combined these three cancers account for a third of estimated cancer deaths globally in 2018.

Stomach cancer (783,000) and liver cancer (782,000) are the third and fourth most prevalent cancer deaths in 2018.

The incidence rate for all cancers combined was about 20percent higher in men than in women, and deaths were nearly 50percent higher for men.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer among men with 14.5percent of the estimated cases, compared to 8.4percent for women in 2018. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in men, followed by prostate, colorectal, liver and stomach cancer.

For women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed. About one in four new cancer cases diagnosed in women worldwide occurs in the breast, and it is the most common cancer for women in 154 of the 185 countries in the new study.

If caught early, breast cancer can be a manageable disease, but it is still the leading cancer cause of death in women, followed by lung, colorectal and cervical cancer.

There’s growing concern about the types of cancer women experience, according to the report.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death for women in 28 countries, with the highest incidence in North America, Northern and Western Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand.

Hungary has the highest rate of women dying from lung cancer; many of those cases are smoking-related.

Tags:

cancer

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories