Today is World Cancer Day: WHO forecasts and new challenges in the fight against cancer
Kyiv • UNN
According to WHO forecasts, by 2050 the number of new cancer cases will increase to 35 million per year. The main causes are population aging, tobacco smoking, alcohol, and air pollution.
On February 4, the world celebrates World Cancer Day, aimed at raising awareness of cancer, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, UNN reports.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 20 million new cases of cancer are recorded every year, and this figure continues to grow. At the same time, experts emphasize that up to 40% of cancer cases can be prevented by adhering to a healthy lifestyle, regular medical examinations, and vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B.
The most common types of cancer and mortality
According to the Global Cancer Observatory, in 2022, the most common types of cancer were:
- Lung cancer - 2.5 million cases (12.4% of the total),
- Breast cancer - 2.3 million cases (11.6%),
- Colorectal cancer - 1.9 million cases (9.6%),
- Prostate cancer - 1.5 million cases (7.3%),
- Stomach cancer - 970 thousand cases (4.9%).
At the same time, lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths - in 2022, it caused 1.8 million deaths (18.7% of all cancer deaths). Next are:
- Colorectal cancer - 900 thousand deaths (9.3%),
- Liver cancer - 760 thousand deaths (7.8%),
- Breast cancer - 670 thousand deaths (6.9%),
- Stomach cancer - 660 thousand deaths (6.8%).
Among women, breast cancer remains the most common type of cancer and cause of death, while among men, lung cancer is the most common.
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Forecast for 2050: a rapid increase in cancer cases
Experts predict that by 2050, more than 35 million new cases of cancer will be registered worldwide, which is 77% more than in 2022. The reasons for this growth are the aging and increasing population, as well as the prevalence of risk factors, including:
- tobacco smoking,
- alcohol abuse,
- obesity,
- air pollution.
According to WHO estimates, the largest increase in the number of cancer cases is expected in low-income countries with no access to quality diagnostics and treatment.
Problems with cancer diagnosis in Ukraine
Equally important is the problem of reducing the number of preventive examinations, in particular radiological examinations such as chest X-rays and mammography. This issue has become even more urgent due to the deterioration of population mobility in recent years. According to Yuriy Kovalenko, Associate Professor of Radiology, Executive Secretary of the Association of Radiologists of Ukraine, the number of examinations has decreased, which leads to a certain number of lung and breast cancer cases not being detected at early stages.
"In recent years, due to many reasons, including the deterioration in the mobility of the population, the number of preventive radiological examinations, including chest X-rays and mammograms, has been decreasing. This means that a certain number of cases of lung and breast cancer have not been detected. On the one hand, this worsens the accuracy of statistical data, and on the other hand, it increases the number of neglected cases of lung and breast cancer, when their treatment is much more expensive and less effective... I think that the situation with the detection of cancer of other nosologies is no better. If instrumental diagnostics is not available, a person usually turns to it when clinical symptoms appear, and this is often not an early stage of the process...", said Yuriy Kovalenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Radiology, Executive Secretary of the Association of Radiologists of Ukraine.
