Global cancer burden rises to 14.1 million in 2012

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, on Thursday in the UN Office at Geneva released the latest data on cancer incidence, mortality, and prevalence worldwide. The new version of IARC’s online database, GLOBOCAN 2012 provides the most recent estimates for 28 types of cancer in 184 countries worldwide and offers a comprehensive overview of the global cancer burden.  GLOBOCAN 2012 reveals striking patterns of cancer in women and highlights that priority should be given to cancer prevention and control measures for breast and cervical cancers globally. According to GLOBOCAN 2012, an estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurred in 2012, compared with 12.7 million and 7.6 million, respectively, in 2008. Prevalence estimates for 2012 show that there were 32.6 million people (over the age of 15 years) alive who had had a cancer diagnosed in the previous five years.  The most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide were those of the lung (1.8 million, 13.0% of the total), breast (1.7 million, 11.9%), and colorectum (1.4 million, 9.7%). The most common causes of cancer death were cancers of the lung (1.6 million, 19.4% of the total), liver (0.8 million, 9.1%), and stomach (0.7 million, 8.8%).  Projections based on the GLOBOCAN 2012 estimates predict a substantive increase to 19.3 million new cancer cases per year by 2025, due to growth and ageing of the global population.

More than half of all cancers (56.8%) and cancer deaths (64.9%) in 2012 occurred in less developed regions of the world, and these proportions will increase further by 2025. 

Breast cancer

In a sharp rise in breast cancer worldwide in 2012 1.7 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and there were 6.3 million women alive who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous five years.

Since the 2008 estimates, breast cancer incidence has increased by more than 20%, while mortality has increased by 14%.

Breast cancer is also the most common cause of cancer death among women (522 thousand deaths in 2012) and the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women in 140 of 184 countries worldwide. It now represents one in four of all cancers in women. 

Developed countries with highest incidence rates and lowest mortality rates

Breast cancer is also a leading cause of cancer death in the less developed countries of the world. Incidence has been increasing in most regions of the world, but there are huge inequalities between rich and poor countries.

Incidence rates remain highest in more developed regions, but mortality is relatively much higher in less developed countries due to a lack of early detection and access to treatment facilities.

For example, in western Europe, breast cancer incidence has reached more than 90 new cases per 100 thousand women annually, compared with 30 per 100 thousand in eastern Africa.

In contrast, breast cancer mortality rates in these two regions are almost identical, at about 15 per 100 thousand, which clearly points to a later diagnosis and much poorer survival in eastern Africa.