Prime Highlights
- Nearly four in ten cancer cases worldwide could be prevented each year through reduced exposure to risk factors like smoking, infections, alcohol, and pollution.
- The findings highlight the potential of public health measures such as vaccination, tobacco control, and cleaner environments to significantly reduce cancer incidence.
Key Facts
- Smoking is the leading preventable cause, responsible for 3.3 million cancer cases, followed by infections (2.3 million) and alcohol use (700,000).
- Lung, stomach, and cervical cancers make up nearly half of all preventable cases, with regional and gender differences influencing risk patterns.
Background
Nearly four out of every ten cancer cases worldwide could be prevented each year, according to the first global analysis of avoidable cancer risks by scientists from the World Health Organization.
The report estimates that people can prevent about 37% of cancers by reducing risks like infections, unhealthy habits, and pollution. This means better public health measures could stop nearly seven million cancer cases every year.
The analysis was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a WHO body. Researchers studied cancer cases recorded in 2022 and matched them with exposure to 30 known risk factors from a decade earlier. The study covered data from 185 countries.
Smoking causes more preventable cancers than any other factor, leading to 3.3 million cases worldwide. Cancer-causing infections, including human papillomavirus, hepatitis viruses, and H. pylori, accounted for 2.3 million cases. Alcohol use led to around 700,000 cancer cases. Other major risks included obesity, lack of physical activity, ultraviolet radiation, and air pollution.
The study found clear differences between regions and genders. About 45% of cancers in men could be prevented, compared with 30% in women, mostly because more men smoke. In Europe, smoking was the leading preventable cause of cancer in women, followed by infections and obesity. In sub-Saharan Africa, infections accounted for nearly 80% of preventable cancers in women.
Lung, stomach, and cervical cancers together made up nearly half of all preventable cancer cases. These are closely linked to smoking, air pollution, and infections such as HPV and H. pylori.
WHO experts said the findings highlight a major chance to reduce cancer cases through vaccination, tobacco control, and cleaner environments.
