Cancer rates spiked in past decade, study finds. These groups of people hit hardest
More people are getting cancer, a new study found. When researchers looked at the number of cancer diagnoses globally in 2010 compared to 2019, rates were up by over 26%.
But some people were more likely to get cancer than others, according to data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019, published in JAMA Oncology on Dec. 30. Those disparities broke down along socioeconomic factors, including income, education levels and fertility.
The differences highlighted the fact that health care and cancer preventative care weren’t accessible to those who need it most, according to a news release about the data analysis, with researchers adding the issue only worsened during the pandemic.
“Most countries will need to accelerate their efforts to reduce non communicable disease burden, including cancer, to meet sustainable development goal targets. Increasing the pace of progress will be particularly critical given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to delays and disruptions in cancer screenings, diagnosis, and treatment around the world,” the study said.
The study used close to 1 million sources of data from 204 countries to identify the global burden of cancer and to measure how much that number had changed from 2010 to 2019. Data was collected mostly through vital registration systems (82.6% of the sources), as well as cancer registries (16.7% of sourcing) and from verbal autopsy reports (0.07% of sourcing).
The findings indicated that cancer was second only to cardiovascular disease globally as a leading cause for deaths, disability adjusted life years and years of life lost, when compared with 22 other diseases. There were at least 10 million deaths due to cancer across the world in 2019.
“Cancer had a greater overall and fatal burden globally in 2019 than other major groups of diseases, such as maternal and neonatal disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and respiratory infections and tuberculosis,” the study stated.
Here’s a rundown of some key findings researchers noticed over the past decade:
- Lung, rectum and colon, breast, stomach and liver cancers were leading causes for disability-adjusted lifestyles among men and women globally when compared to other types of cancer.
- For male patients, lung cancers were the leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality in 58 of 119 countries examined.
- Breast cancer was the leading cause of cancer-related disabilities and deaths globally for female patients.
- Global total cancer deaths rose 20.9% in the past decade, from 8.29 million deaths in 2010 to 10 million in 2019.
- Colorectal and liver cancer rose from the third- and seventh-leading causes in 2010 to the second and fifth in 2019, respectively.
According to researchers, the global age-standardized mortality rate decreased in the decade studied — which points to improvement when analyzing cancer rates in relation to age. While that may be a good thing, the study said, only certain groups of people are driving that change — those who were reported to have higher incomes per capita, higher levels of education, and higher fertility rates under age 25. The same reduction in cancer wasn’t seen among populations with lower sociodemographic statuses (SDI).
“The largest percentage increases in cancer incidence and mortality during the last decade occurred in the lower SDI quintiles, likely reflecting ongoing epidemiologic transitions, demographic shifts, and disparities in cancer prevention, care, and control,” the study concluded. “Together, these results provide comprehensive and comparable estimates that can potentially inform efforts for equitably reducing the evolving burden of cancer globally.”
Researchers acknowledge in the study that part of the uptick in cases among lower SDI populations may be due to improved health care access — meaning more people could get proper diagnoses — as well as improving data collection in those areas. But they also suggest that higher cancer rates could be linked to behavioral, environmental and occupational exposures. It could also indicate room to improve the type of education those populations receive about cancer prevention, particularly about tobacco.
“Changing patterns of smoking prevalence by SDI quintile may be particularly relevant to cancer burden, with a need for further smoking reduction and tobacco control initiatives in many countries,” the study added. “These differences in cancer burden across the SDI spectrum suggest a need to tailor cancer control efforts to specific resource contexts and health system needs, incorporating local cultural and cancer context-specific knowledge.”
Overall, the study highlighted that while cancer rates increased globally since 2010, it affected lower SDI populations more than other groups of individuals. Cancer rates grew the quickest among low SDI communities, the study said, indicating equity in cancer treatment and prevention is needed globally to continue making progress against the diseases in the future.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Cancer rates spiked in past decade, study finds. These groups of people hit hardest."
