BFF-70 Cancer to kill 10 mn in 2018 despite better prevention

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HEALTH-DISEASE-CANCER

Cancer to kill 10 mn in 2018 despite better prevention

PARIS, Sept 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Cancer will kill nearly 10 million
people this year, experts said Wednesday, warning the disease’s global burden
continues to rise in spite of better prevention and earlier diagnosis.

An estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases were predicted worldwide for
2018 — with 9.6 million deaths, said a report of the International Agency
for Research on Cancer (IARC).

This is up from estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million
deaths reported in the agency’s last assessment just six years ago.

The toll is rising as populations expand and grow older, and people in
developing nations adopt unhealthy, high-risk lifestyles traditionally
associated with richer economies.

An increased focus on prevention — encouraging people to get exercise,
quit smoking, and eating a healthy diet — led to a drop in certain types of
cancer in some population groups, the IARC said.

Yet the overall number of new cases is racing ahead of efforts to contain
the disease.

“These new figures highlight that much remains to be done to address the
alarming rise in the cancer burden globally and that prevention has a key
role to play,” said IARC director Christopher Wild.

One in five men and one in six women will develop cancer during their
lifetime, the study said, and the World Health Organization expects the
disease to be the leading cause of death in the 21st century.

There are dozens of types of cancer, and the agency found large
differences between countries due to a host of socioeconomic factors.

– Biggest killer –

Asia, unsurprisingly given its enormous population, accounted for nearly
half of all new cases and more than half of cancer deaths worldwide in 2018.

Lung cancer remains the biggest killer overall, responsible for some 1.8
million deaths — nearly a quarter of the global toll.

For women, breast cancer caused 15 percent of cancer deaths, followed by
lung cancer (13.8 percent) and colorectal cancer (9.5 percent).

The figures highlighted a worrying rise in lung cancer rates for women —
it is now the leading cause of female cancer deaths in 28 countries including
Denmark, the Netherlands, China, and New Zealand.

The data showed that cancer types traditionally associated with rich
country lifestyles — more overweight people who are less inclined to
exercise — were increasingly common in developing nations.

“One of the things that happens with transitions towards high levels of
socio-economic development is the environment changes,” Freddie Bray, IARC’s
head of cancer surveillance, told AFP.

“There is more physical inactivity and that happens to be a particularly
high risk factor for colon cancer, for example.”

– Momentum lacking –

Bray said models using current cancer statistics and predicted trends
forecast as many as 29 million new cases a year by 2040.

“The extent to which this is becoming a major public health problem and
the diversity of cancers that we see in different regions is also a striking
point,” Bray said.

Anti-cancer measures could take the form of stricter tabacco controls to
limit lung cancer, or initiatives to encourage physical activity to reduce
the risk of colon cancer.

But the study warned that global efforts to rein in one of mankind’s
biggest killers still “lacked momentum”.

“Either from a social or an economic point of view the numbers are
increasing,” said Bray.

This means “there’s a need to invest in prevention and public health
programmes, and develop health services’ capacity, particularly in low-medium
income countries.”

BSS/AFP/BZC/2025HRS