Enlarge image

Cancer therapy: A woman receives chemotherapy and her head is warmed

Photo:

Owen Franken/Getty Images

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the number of cancer cases will increase significantly worldwide. In 2022, around 20 million people worldwide will suffer from cancer, and the number is forecast to increase by 77 percent to 35 million per year by 2050, reports the IARC.

Around one in five people will develop cancer during their lifetime. One in nine men and one in twelve women die from it.

The growing and aging population is, among other things, responsible for the forecast increase, reports the IARC, which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Air pollution and lifestyle changes, such as increased tobacco and alcohol consumption and obesity, also played a role.

The report's authors warn that the increase in cancer cases will particularly affect poor countries with fewer medical resources.

These forms of cancer are the most common

For its study, the Cancer Research Agency analyzed data from 185 countries and for 36 forms of cancer. According to this, ten types of cancer led to around two thirds of all new cases and deaths in 2022. In women, breast cancer was the most common form, followed by lung and colon cancer. In men, lung cancer was the most common form, followed by prostate and colon cancer.

In numbers this means:

  • It is estimated that 2.5 million people will suffer from

    lung cancer

    in 2022.

    That was 12.4 percent of all estimated cancer cases.

  • 2.3 million women developed

    breast cancer , which corresponds to 11.6 percent of all cancer cases.

  • Colon

    cancer

    affected 1.9 million people (9.6 percent).

  • 1.5 million people (7.3 percent) were diagnosed with

    prostate

    cancer .

  • Stomach cancer

    came in fifth place

    with 970,000 cases (4.9 percent).

The fact that lung cancer is so common is probably related to the ongoing tobacco consumption in Asia, according to a statement accompanying the report.

Lung cancer causes the most deaths

According to the report, 9.7 million people died as a result of cancer in 2022:

  • Lung cancer

    was also responsible for the most cases here: 1.8 million. According to IARC, this corresponds to 18.7 percent of all people who died of cancer in 2022.

  • 900,000 people died of

    colon cancer

    (9.3 percent).

  • However, liver cancer

    came in third place

    with 760,000 deaths (7.8 percent), followed by

    breast cancer

    with 670,000 deaths (6.9 percent).

The investigation also draws attention to global injustices in the care of those affected. This is particularly the case with breast cancer, writes the IARC.

In very highly developed countries, approximately one in twelve women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, and one in 71 women will die as a result of the disease. In countries with low levels of development, however, only one in 27 women receives the diagnosis, while one in 48 dies as a result.

irb/dpa