Lung cancer is again the most common in the world

Lung cancer, which was surpassed by breast cancer as the most common in the world during the pandemic, is again the most common and remains the cause of most deaths, according to the latest research on the disease published today. by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report, published three days before World Cancer Day with data from 185 countries corresponding to 2022, shows that there were around 20 million global cases of the disease that year, compared to 19.3 million registered in 2020. but there were fewer deaths (9.7 million, compared with 10 million in the previous study).

Freddie Bray, head of surveillance at the WHO’s International Cancer Research Center, pointed out when presenting the study that cases continue to increase year by year, in the context of an older population and exposure to greater risks such as obesity and tobacco and alcohol consumption.

“We predict, based on projected changes in the population and aging, that by 2050 there will be around 35 million cases of cancer, 77% more than in 2022,” he noted at the press conference at the presentation of the report.

The most common cancers in the year studied were lung (2.5 million global cases), breast (2.3 million), colon (1.9 million), prostate (1.5 million) and stomach (970,000).

Two years earlier, breast cancer had overtaken lung cancer as the world’s most common cancer, which had held the top spot for more than two decades, and is now making a comeback, which the WHO attributes to persistent tobacco consumption in Asia. where two out of every three cases (1.5 million) were diagnosed.

Lung cancer is also the leading cause of death worldwide (1.8 million in 2022), followed by colorectal cancer (900,000), liver cancer (760,000) and breast cancer (670,000 deaths).

Differences between genders and continents
Breast cancer is the most common and deadliest in women, while lung cancer is the most common in both cases in men.

The Asian continent accounts for almost half of the cancer cases and more than half of the deaths (9.86 million and 5.46 million, respectively), while 4.47 million cases and 1.98 million deaths were recorded in Europe.

North America recorded 2.67 million cancer cases and 706,000 deaths, while Latin America, with far fewer diagnosed patients (1.55 million), suffered more deaths (749,000, according to WHO data).

Although lung cancer is the most common in the world, by region it is common only in Asia, while in Latin America, prostate cancer ranks first, and in other regions, breast cancer.

As far as mortality is concerned, lung cancer kills the most in Asia, Europe and America, while only in Africa and Oceania is breast cancer taking that place.

WHO also pointed out that in 25 countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women and one of the deadliest, despite the fact that it is only the eighth most common and ninth in the number of deaths globally. .

There are still large gaps
The UN health agency has warned of serious inequalities that exist in terms of rapid diagnosis and treatment of cancer between less developed and more developed regions, which is particularly pronounced in breast cancer.

While in the most developed countries it is estimated that one in 12 women will be diagnosed with this type of cancer during their lifetime, but only one in 71 will die, in the poorest economies, where the diagnosis is much lower (one in 27) the chances of dying from this tumor are higher (1 of 48).

The WHO predicts that cancer cases will increase by about 64% between now and mid-century in high-income countries, but this will be faster in middle-income countries (99%) and low-income countries (142%).

“Governments must break this cycle by investing in priority services cancer treatmentbecause it would not have to be expensive for the families or a death sentence for them,” emphasized the head of the technical unit for cancer at WHO, André Ilbawi.

The WHO estimates that one in five people, both men and women, will develop some type of cancer in their lifetime, although the death rate from these malignant tumors remains higher among men (one in nine will die from this cause) than among women (one from 12).