The number of people getting cancer is set to rise sharply in the next few decades. This is what the Global Cancer Statistics 2024 report from the American Cancer Society is telling us.
By the year 2050, it’s expected that 35 million people will be diagnosed with cancer every year. Right now, about 20 million people are getting this diagnosis each year, and almost 10 million people are dying from it. [Source]
The main reason for this increase is that the world’s population is getting older. “This rise in projected cancer cases by 2050 is solely due to the aging and growth of the population, assuming current incidence rates remain unchanged,” said Hyuna Sung, who worked on the report.
But there’s another big reason for the rise in cancer: the way we live our lives. Eating unhealthy food, not exercising enough, drinking too much alcohol, and smoking are all making the situation worse.
Lung cancer is the biggest problem. It’s the most common cancer and the one that kills the most people.
Every year, almost 2.5 million people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and about 1.8 million people die from it. For men, after lung cancer, prostate and colon cancers are the most common. Women are most likely to get breast cancer, but lung, colon, and cervical cancers are also common and deadly.
Dr. Ahmedin Jemal from the American Cancer Society says that a lot of these deaths could be prevented, especially if people stopped using tobacco. “Elimination of tobacco use alone could prevent one in four cancer deaths, or approximately 2.6 million cancer deaths annually,” he explained.
The report also talks about how important it is to catch cancer early through screening, like checks for cervical cancer, but not enough people are getting these tests.
This is part of why people in poorer countries are more likely to die from cancer, even though they’re less likely to get it in the first place.
Karen Knudsen, the CEO of the American Cancer Society, said, “Understanding the global cancer burden is critical to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat and survive cancer.” This report is a wake-up call that we need to act now to slow down this rise in cancer cases.