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Background: Cancer is a leading cause of premature mortality globally. This study estimates premature deaths at ages 30–69 years and distinguishes these as deaths that are preventable (avertable through primary or secondary prevention) or treatable (avertable through curative treatment) in 185 countries worldwide. Methods: For this population-based study, estimated cancer deaths by country, cancer, sex, and age groups were retrieved from the International Agency for Research on Cancer's GLOBOCAN 2020 database. Crude and age-adjusted cancer-specific years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated for 36 cancer types. Findings: Of the estimated all-ages cancer burden of 265·6 million YLLs, 182·8 million (68·8%) YLLs were due to premature deaths from cancer globally in 2020, with 124·3 million (68·0%) preventable and 58·5 million (32·0%) treatable. Countries with low, medium, or high human development index (HDI) levels all had greater proportions of YLLs at premature ages than very high HDI countries (68·9%, 77·0%, and 72·2% vs 57·7%, respectively). Lung cancer was the leading contributor to preventable premature YLLs in medium to very high HDI countries (17·4% of all cancers, or 29·7 million of 171·3 million YLLs), whereas cervical cancer led in low HDI countries (26·3% of all preventable cancers, or 1·83 million of 6·93 million YLLs). Colorectal and breast cancers were major treatable cancers across all four tiers of HDI (25·5% of all treatable cancers in combination, or 14·9 million of 58·5 million YLLs). Interpretation: Alongside tailored programmes of early diagnosis and screening linked to timely and comprehensive treatment, greater investments in risk factor reduction and vaccination are needed to address premature cancer inequalities. Funding: Erasmus Mundus Exchange Programme and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Translations: For the German, French, Spanish and Chinese translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license

Abstract

Breast Neoplasms, Female, Global Health, Humans, Mortality, Premature, Risk Factors, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Article, cancer mortality, cancer risk, cancer screening, cancer therapy, human, ICD-10, information retrieval, malignant neoplasm, population based case control study, sensitivity analysis, years of potential life lost, breast tumor, female, global health, premature mortality, risk factor, uterine cervix tumor

Significance Statement:

Quantitative estimates of preventable and treatable deaths from 36 cancers worldwide: a population-based study

Frick C., Rumgay H., Vignat J., Ginsburg O., Nolte E., Bray F., Soerjomataram I.

This comprehensive study highlights the global impact of cancer, emphasizing the potential for prevention and treatment across 185 countries. It categorizes cancer deaths among individuals aged 30-69 years into preventable (avoidable through primary or secondary prevention) and treatable (avoidable through curative treatment) categories. In 2020, over half of the nearly 10 million cancer deaths occurred prematurely (before age 70), accounting for 182.8 million years of life lost (YLLs). The study underscores the significant variance in cancer burden across countries with different human development indices (HDIs). For instance, lung cancer was the major contributor to preventable premature YLLs in countries with medium to very high HDI, whereas cervical cancer was predominant in low HDI countries​​​​​​.

The Lancet Global Health

2023

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