Breast cancer becomes the most commonly occurring cancer in the world: WHO

Breast cancers became the most commonly occurring cancer in the world, surpassing cases of lung and skin cancer, a cancer specialist from the World Health Organization, told a UN virtual briefing ahead of World Cancer Day. "Among women, breast cancer is the most commonly-diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide," WHO cancer specialist Andre Ilbawi said. Furthermore, he added that obesity in women was a common risk factor in breast cancer and the disease is expected to rise to about 30 million new cases per year by 2040, from the previously recorded 19.3 million in 2020. Meanwhile, Illbawi regretted the obstruction to the treatment of breast cancer due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Last year, André Ilbawi spoke to e-cancer at the UICC World Cancer Congress in Kuala Lumpur to create awareness about the possibility of universal health coverage on February 4. Speaking on the occasion of world cancer day, the WHO specialists said: “Everyone must have access to quality healthcare across the world with financial protection, unfortunately, there are currently many large gaps in the cancer world that need to be improved to achieve universal health coverage.” His remarks came as he expressed concerns about diseases like Cancer that needed cost-effective interventions, adding that cancer will become more widespread in times to come. 

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[Dr. André Ilbawi (WHO) explains the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer and the way forward to achieve this high-level goal by the year 2030. Credit: Twitter/@SIOPE]

[Until 2018, Lung cancer was the most common cancer worldwide but was surpassed by breast Cancer in 2020. Credit: American Institute of Cancer Research]

Impacts 13 percent US women

Meanwhile, a new analysis from American Institute of Cancer Research also found that the breast cancer, among all cancers, potentially impacted 25.4 percent women, globally, according to the total number of new cases diagnosed annually. The average risk of a woman developing breast cancer in the US was found to be about 13 percent, the report said, citing the global cancer incidence. This implied that 1 in 8 women had the risk of developing breast cancer sometime in their lives. Colorectal cancer was the third most common cancer with an estimated 1.8 million new cases globally per year. “With this growing global burden, prevention of cancer is one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century,” the American Cancer Society said, ahead of World Cancer Day. 

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(Image Credit: Unsplash/representative Image)