Breast, Lung and Prostate Cancer Rates High Worldwide

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Christina Fitzmaurice M.D., M.P.H.
UW Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

o   We analyzed cancer incidence (i.e. how many people develop a new cancer), cancer mortality (i.e. how many people die of a cancer), and disability associated with cancer for 29 cancer subgroups and for all cancers combined. The findings cover 1990-2016 for 195 countries and territories.

o   In 2016, there were 17.2 million cancer cases worldwide, an increase of 28% over the past decade. There were 8.9 million cancer deaths the same year.

o   While cancer death rates decreased in a majority of countries from 2006 to 2016, incidence rates conversely increased.

o   Breast cancer was the leading cause of cancer death in women.

o   Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death in men; it was also the leading cause of cancer mortality globally, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all cancer deaths in 2016.

o   Prostate cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer incidence and death in men, in both high- and low-SDI countries, but especially in sub-Saharan Africa. 

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Cancer is not only a problem in rich countries. We tend to forget that it is a universal issue and that we now have many tools to prevent, treat, or palliate cancer. With our study, which we update annually, we want to show that cancer affects many people all over the world and we want to provide the data needed to make the best decision in terms of resource allocation, research focus, and health system planning.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: Future research needs to focus on how we can make cancer care universally accessible. This means we need affordable diagnostics, screening, and treatments. We also need to understand better what determines the vast heterogeneity in the composition of different cancers types by country. This knowledge will then allow us to offer more targeted care aimed at preventing some cancers altogether or at least to detect it at an early stage.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Response: Our study would not be possible without our many collaborators all over the world and it would also not be possible without the data sources to which we have access, including cancer registries and vital registration system data, among others. We strongly support any efforts to expand data collection systems, especially the creation and expansion of cancer registries which are important for cancer surveillance.

Citation:

upcoming JAMA publication:

Global, Regional, and National Cancer Incidence, Mortality, Years of Life Lost, Years Lived With Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years for 29 Cancer Groups, 1990 to 2016 A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

 

 

 

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Last Updated on June 1, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD