AUSTIN, Texas — A new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) says cancer rates are expected to continue to increase over the next 25 years.
ACS on Thursday released "Global Cancer Statistics, 2024," its annual report on global cancer trends. The report shows that an estimated 20 million cancer cases were newly diagnosed in 2022, and 9.7 million people died from the disease worldwide.
According to the data, cancer cases are expected to keep rising to 35 million worldwide by 2050.
"This rise in projected cancer cases by 2050 is solely due to the aging and growth of the population, assuming current incidence rates remain unchanged," Dr. Hyuna Sung, a senior principal scientist of cancer surveillance at the ACS and a co-author of the report, said. "Notably, the prevalence of major risk factors such as consumption of unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, heavy alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking are increasing in many parts of the world and will likely exacerbate the future burden of cancer barring any large scale interventions."
The report found that lung cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer. It is the the leading cause of cancer death overall and in men worldwide, with almost 2.5 million cases (1 in 8 cancers) and 1.8 million deaths (1 in 5 deaths).
For men, lung cancer is followed by prostate and colorectal cancers for number of cases and by liver and colorectal cancers for number of deaths. For women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading case of cancer death. It is followed by lung, colorectal and cervical cancers.
The report found that in 37 countries, cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women. Every day in 2022, approximately 1,800 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and almost 1,000 women died from it worldwide. The ACS said incidence rates are highest in the sub-Saharan African nations of Eswatini, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.
Meanwhile, on a global scale, only 15% of eligible girls have received the vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer, while only 36% of women worldwide have undergone screening for cervical cancer.
"Understanding the global cancer burden is critical to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat and survive cancer," ACS CEO Dr. Karen E. Knudsen said. "This data provides insight into trends and potential areas for intervention and can help prioritize discovery efforts worldwide."
Researchers said prevention is key to decreasing cancer cases and deaths.
"With more than half of cancer deaths worldwide being potentially preventable, prevention offers the most cost-effective and sustainable strategy for cancer control," Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance & health equity science at the ACS and the senior author of the study, said. "Elimination of tobacco use alone could prevent 1 in 4 cancer deaths or approximately 2.6 million cancer deaths annually."