Cancer 2nd leading cause of death globally, data reveals

By Ayse Dogru

ANKARA (AA) - With 10 million deaths in 2020, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. Globally every sixth death is due to cancer.

Anadolu Agency compiled data on the global course of the disease as the world marks World Cancer Day on Feb. 4.

According to the data of the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), 18.1 million new cancer cases were identified globally in 2020, of which 9.3 million were among men and 8.8 million were among women.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide with 2.26 million cases detected worldwide in 2020, followed by 2.06 million lung cancer, 1.93 million colon, 1.41 million prostate and 1.09 million gastric cancer cases, according to the data.

Breast cancers accounted for 12.5% of all cancer cases, lung cancer 12.2%, colon cancer 10.7%, prostate cancer 7.8%, and gastric cancer 6%.

The number of cases in proportion to the population is 2.5 times higher in developed countries than in underdeveloped ones.

In 2018, 296 cancer cases per 100,000 people were seen in developed regions, while this number was 115 in underdeveloped regions.

However, it was determined that uterus cancer in women is three times more common in underdeveloped countries than in developed countries.