The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has released an interactive map and a new report on the spread of cancer globally. Here are the most diagnosed tumors that kill the most in Italy and in the rest of the world.
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Credit: IARC
Il cancertogether with cardiovascular diseasesrepresents the main cause of death al worldwith the numbers of diagnosis constantly growing highlighted by the interactive map of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The data concerning i. is disturbing youngwith an increase in malignant neoplasms of the 30 percent between 1973 and 2017, as explained to Fanpage.it by the oncologist of the “Aldo Moro” Polyclinic of Bari Camillo Porta. According to a new report published by IARC, a body part of the World Health Organization (OMS), in 2022 globally were made approximately 20 million new diagnoses of cancer, while the deceased people were 9.7 million. In 2020 the cases detected were 19.3 million. The increase will become substantial over the next two decades, as IARC expects 35 million of new cases per year in 2050, with a frightening +77 percent compared to the current data.
The most diagnosed tumors in the world
But let’s go back to the 2022 data. The most diagnosed neoplasm globally was the lung cancercon 2.5 million of new cases, equal to 12.4 percent of tumors detected. In second place goes the breast cancercon 2.3 million of cases (11.6 percent of the total), while the third is colorectal cancercon 1.9 million of cases (9.6 percent). They follow the prostate cancer con 1.5 million of diagnosis (7.3 percent) and the stomach cancer with 970,000 cases, equal to 4.9 percent of the total.
Il breast cancer it is the one that obtains the highest number of diagnoses in the greatest number of countries (82), including Italy, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, India, England, Argentina and in the majority of African states. In second place in this particular ranking is prostate cancer (37 countries), with peaks recorded in the Scandinavian Peninsula and Brazil, while in third place is cervical cancer (21), with a massive concentration of diagnoses in sub-Saharan Africa. The lung cancer it is the most diagnosed in 19 countries (fourth place), among which there is populous China, where theair pollution represents a significant problem in several urban centers. In fifth place is colorectal cancer, the most diagnosed in 16 countries, including Spain, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Denmark and the Netherlands.
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The deadliest malignancies globally were lung cancer (1.8 million of deaths); colorectal cancer (900.000); liver cancer (760.000); breast cancer (670.000); and stomach cancer (660.000).
The most common and deadly tumors in Italy
The IARC data refers to 2022, but for our country the data for the year just ended are already available, thanks to the report “Cancer numbers in Italy 2023” presented in December at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) . Even in our case, as happens globally, there is a increase in diagnoseswhich went from 376,000 in 2020 to 395.000 of 2023, with 208,000 men and 187,000 women affected. As regards the most widespread neoplasms, in 2023 the most diagnosed was breast cancer with 55,900 cases, followed by colorectal cancers (50,500), lung (44,000), prostate (41,100), bladder (29,700), stomach (15,000) and pancreas (14,800). The deadliest, based on 2022 data, were lung cancer (34,000), colorectal cancer (19,800), breast cancer (12,900), pancreatic cancer (12,100) and liver cancer (11,200 ). The increase in deaths is worrying melanoma and pancreatic cancer in men and for lung cancer and melanoma in women. According to a very recent study published in the Journal of Public Health, 25 percent of cancer deaths in Italy are linked to low education. According to IARC estimates, again in 2022, people will live five years after diagnosis – a significant parameter in Oncology – was 5.3 million globally
The WHO agency highlights that there are notable inequalities in cancer diagnoses and treatment based on income of individual countries. For example, in those with high income, 1 in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 in 71 will lose their life to it. In low-income countries, only 1 in 27 women will be diagnosed, but 1 in 48 women will lose their lives. “Women in low HDI countries are 50% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer compared to women in high HDI countries, but are at much higher risk of dying from the disease due to late diagnosis and inadequate access to quality care,” Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, deputy head of the IARC Cancer Surveillance Department.
These disparities, if steps are not taken to align diagnostics and treatments, will become even more significant in the future, when cancer numbers increase significantly. The main causes behind the increase, according to IARC, in addition toaging of the population they are factors like smoking habit, alcohol consumption e obesity.