Cancer, 4 out of 10 cases can be prevented: smoking, infections and alcohol the first factors to avoid

Out of 18.7 million new cancer cases, as many as 7.1 million or almost 40% (37.8%) could be prevented. This is the estimate published on the eve of World Cancer Day on 4 February by the WHO agency Iarc, whose experts have just published in Nature Medicine an analysis based on data from 185 countries and covering 36 types of cancer, which speaks volumes: the 30 preventable causes - including tobacco, alcohol, high body mass index, physical inactivity, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation and for the first time nine carcinogenic infections - account for 2.7 million (29.7%) cases in women and 4.3 million (45.4%) in men. In detail, the proportion of preventable cancers (2022 data) ranges from 24.6% to 38.2% in women and from 28.1% to 57.2% in men in different regions.
Explaining the significance of this analysis is the study's first author and WHO team leader for cancer control, André Ilbawi: "This is the first global analysis to show how much weight causes that we can prevent have on the risk of developing cancer. By examining patterns across countries and population groups, we can provide governments and individuals with more specific information to help prevent many cases before the disease starts".

Smoking (15.1%), infections (10.2%) and alcohol consumption (3.2%) are the main preventable factors contributing to the cancer burden. Lung, stomach and cervical cancers accounted for almost half of all preventable cancers. Strengthening efforts to reduce modifiable exposures remains central to overall cancer prevention.

Three types of cancer - lung, stomach and cervical - account for almost half of all preventable cancer cases in both men and women globally. Lung cancer is mainly related to smoking and air pollution while stomach cancer is largely attributable to Helicobacter pylori infection. Finally, cervical cancer is overwhelmingly caused by the human papillomavirus (Hpv), for which there has been a vaccine for years that is still largely underused even in Italy.
This information - is the warning that comes from the WHO - must not remain on paper but must be used by individual countries as useful compasses to put in place specific prevention strategies that include more effective tobacco control measures, alcohol regulation, vaccination against carcinogenic infections such as the human papillomavirus - precisely - and hepatitis B, but also to promote better air quality, safer workplaces and more physical activity.

The burden of preventable cancer is substantially higher in men than in women, with 45% of new cancer cases in men compared to 30% in women. In men, smoking accounts for about 23% of all new cancer cases, followed by infections at 9% and alcohol at 4%. Among women globally, infections account for 11% of all new cancer cases, followed by smoking at 6% and high body mass index at 3%.

"This landmark study is a comprehensive assessment of preventable cancer worldwide, incorporating for the first time infectious causes of cancer along with behavioural, environmental and occupational risks," says Isabelle Soerjomataram, deputy director of the Iarc Cancer Surveillance Unit and senior author of the study. "Addressing these preventable causes represents one of the most powerful opportunities to reduce the global burden of cancer.