Categories: Science

Cancer deaths expected to nearly double worldwide by 2050


Breast cancer cells that have metastasised to the liver

Connect Images / Alamy

The number of cancer deaths worldwide is expected to nearly double by 2050, largely due to increases in low and middle-income countries.

Habtamu Bizuayehu at the University of Queensland in Australia and his team made the discovery by looking at recent figures for cases and death rates for 36 types of cancer in 185 countries from the Global Cancer Observatory database. They then projected future cases and deaths by applying these rates to the 2050 population predictions from the United Nations Development Programme.

They found that the total number of cancer cases worldwide is expected to grow by nearly 77 per cent between 2022 and 2050, which would mean an additional 15.3 million cases in 2050 on top of the 20 million in 2022. Global cancer deaths are also projected to rise by almost 90 per cent during this period, resulting in 8.8 million more in 2050 compared with 2022, in which 9.7 million people died from the disease.

The largest increases are expected in countries with low or middle rankings on the UN’s Human Development Index, which is based on average life expectancy, education level and income per person. Cancer cases and deaths are, on average, anticipated to nearly triple by 2050 in countries with a low score, such as Niger and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, countries with a very high score – such as Norway – are projected to see cases and deaths increase, on average, by more than 42 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively.

This reinforces other evidence that shows cancer cases are trending upwards, says Andrew Chan at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who wasn’t involved with the study. Multiple factors are probably driving this, including people living longer, which raises the risk of cancer, he says. However, the work didn’t account for the advent of new or more effective treatments.

Less-developed countries will probably see the greatest increases due to the “so-called Westernisation of populations”, says Chan. “Some of the habits that we traditionally associate with higher risk of cancer, such as rising rates of obesity and poor diet, are becoming a trend in low and middle-income countries.”

Topics:



Source link

Washington Digital News

Share
Published by
Washington Digital News

Recent Posts

Canada orders TikTok to shut down its business operations in the country due to ‘national security risks’

Canada has TikTok to shut down its operations in the country, citing unspecified “national security…

4 hours ago

Everyday Price Inflation at 0.3% y/y?

Versus 2.4% for the CPI (in logs). Lots of people think the government’s statistics understates…

8 hours ago

Pro-Bitcoin Donald Trump Becomes the 47th President of the United States

Donald J. Trump has officially emerged victorious, claiming the presidency for a second time as…

8 hours ago

Trump’s next moves as president on Medicare, Social Security, the Affordable Care Act and more

Donald Trump has promised sweeping action in a second administration. The former president and now…

8 hours ago

‘Amazing awaits’: Crypto leaders rejoice as Bitcoin rallies following Trump blowout win

While the race for the White House seemed like a dead heat, crypto investors remained…

8 hours ago