Cancer cases are expected to climb to 35 million by 2050, an increase of 60% from today, according to new WHO data.
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Cancer cases around the world are projected to nearly double by 2050, a new report says.
Nearly 21 million people were diagnosed with cancer in 2024, and without stronger prevention and care, projected annual cases will climb to nearly 35 million by 2050, according to the July 8 report from the World Health Organization and its International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Cancer claims more than 26,000 lives a day, close to 10 million a year, making it the second-leading cause of death worldwide after cardiovascular disease. Lung cancer is the top cause of cancer deaths. For men, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers are the most common. Those same types are also common in women, who also experience high rates of breast cancer.
Whether people survive depends a lot on where they live. In high-income countries, 87% of women with breast cancer are alive five years after diagnosis, the report said. In low-income countries, only about 42% are. Fewer than a third of countries include basic cancer care in their universal health coverage packages.
“The inequities documented in this report are not inevitable; they are the consequence of choices, and they can be reversed through stronger and unified action,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, WHO director-general, said in a news release.
Cancer also financially drains families. In a survey of about 4,000 people affected by cancer across 116 countries, at least 45% reported financial hardship and more than half reported mental health struggles.
Much of the disease burden is preventable. Nearly 40% of cancer cases are linked to risks such as tobacco, alcohol, excess weight, physical inactivity and infections such as HPV and hepatitis B and C, the report found. On the positive side, tobacco use has fallen 27% since 2010, and 82% of countries had national cancer control plans as of 2021, up from half in 2010.
“While we are seeing reductions in some cancer rates in countries that have implemented prevention policies, progress has been too slow,” Elisabete Weiderpass, MD, PhD, MSc, director of the WHO cancer agency, said in the news release.
For more information on the report, “Global Status Report on Cancer 2026: The Future We Choose Together,” visit www.who.int.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
