Human development central to changing cancer burden

Such is the conclusion of a study led by scientists of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and published Friday 1 June 2012 in the Lancet Oncology(1). Strikingly the study demonstrates not only how an increasing cancer burden will fall predominantly on those countries that are in the process of social and economic transition but also that the type of cancers that are most common is changing. Findings from the population-baseds study: In the highest HDI regions in 2008, cancers of the female breast, lung, colorectum, and prostate accounted for half the overall cancer burden, whereas in medium HDI regions, cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, and liver were also common, and together these seven cancers comprised 62% of the total cancer burden in medium to very high HDI areas. In low HDI regions, cervical cancer was more common than both breast cancer and liver cancer. Nine different cancers were the most commonly diagnosed in men across 184 countries, with cancers of the prostate, lung, and liver being the most common. Breast and cervical cancers were the most common in women. In medium HDI and high HDI settings, decreases in cervical and stomach cancer incidence seem to be offset by increases in the incidence of cancers of the female breast, prostate, and colorectum. If the cancer-specific and sex-specific trends estimated in this study continue, we predict an increase in the incidence of all-cancer cases from 12·7 million new cases in 2008 to 22·2 million by 2030. See the full press release from International Agency for Rsearch on Cancer here. (1) See http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(12)70211-5/abstract