Cancer incidence
According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is a significant cause of global morbidity and mortality.
The various forms of the disease accounted for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 (Ferlay et al, 2020).
The below shows the 2020 global cancer incidence (in terms of new cases of cancer).
Global cancer incidence
- Breast 2.26 million
- Lung 2.21 million
- Colon and rectum 1.93 million
- Prostate 1.41 million
- Skin (non-melanoma 1.20 million
- Stomach 1.09 million
The most common causes of cancer death in 2020 were: lung (1.80 million deaths); colon and rectum (935 000 deaths); liver (830 000 deaths); stomach (769 000 deaths); and breast (685 000 deaths).
In the UK, you may have seen the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) campaigning adverts, which suggest that 1:2 people will ‘get cancer in our lifetime’, which cites evidence by Ahmad et al (2015).
- Can you think why the incidence / risk might be going up?
- Can you recall why, for example, breast cancer has overtaken lung cancer as the leading most commonly occurring cancer, and yet has a lower death rate?
- What about bowel cancer? Why do you think this condition is seeing an increase in incidence globally?