Cancer: 77% rise in cases between 2022 and 2050, WHO warns

Around 35 million new cases of cancer are expected in 2050, the WHO agency said on Thursday.

Cause: Aging and population growth, but also various risk factors.

Cancer, the disease of the century? Ahead of the World Day of this pathology scheduled for Sunday, the WHO released statistics leaving little doubt about the scale of the expanding phenomenon. According to data from 185 countries, the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer, affiliated with the WHO) expects an annual increase of 50% in the number of new cases diagnosed between 2022 and 2040 (about 30 million) and 77% between 2022. and 2050 (35 million expected).

Dr Freddie Bray, head of the IARC Cancer Surveillance Unit, estimates that on average one in five people will develop cancer during their lifetime. “The rapid increase in the global burden of cancer reflects both population aging and growth, as well as changes in people’s exposure to risk factors,” According to IARC, citing tobacco, alcohol, obesity and air pollution “Major Factors in Increasing Manufacturing”.

By 2050, deaths will increase by about 90%

According to the American Institute IHME (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation), in 2019 the number of cancers in the world has increased by more than 25% over the decade.

This disease, characterized by the proliferation of malignant cells, mainly affects the elderly: three-quarters of diagnoses concern people over 55 years of age. In contrast, people under the age of 29 rarely represent more than 3% of detected cancers, despite representing nearly 50% of the world’s population. Cancer can occur at any age, but the risk increases rapidly with aging due to age-related cellular, molecular, and physiological changes, particularly the accumulation of DNA mutations favorable to the disease.

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Another lesson emerged from the study this Thursday: IARC estimates the number of cancer deaths for the year 2022 at 9.74 million, with deaths expected to increase by nearly 90% by 2050. This disease is another leading cause of death. In the world, behind cardiovascular diseases. The largest number of deaths is concentrated in the Asian continent: ahead of Europe with 56% of the total (including Russia – 20%), followed by Latin America, Africa and North America (about 7% for each of these regions).