Are we tackling cancer all wrong?

The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that annual global cancer diagnoses will increase from approximately 20 million to almost 35 million by 2050. It wants to see governments develop national cancer control plans that provide comprehensive care and decrease inequity in access to prevention and care.The figures come from WHO’s Global Status Report on Cancer 2026, developed jointly with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It was released in early July.In Canada, an aging population could lead to more diagnoses of lung, prostate and colorectal cancers, said Dr. Peter Stotland, chief of surgery and a surgical oncologist at North York General Hospital told CTV News when asked to comment on the report. There’s also a rise in cancer rates among young people.“We can be seeing two spikes . . . one in older people and another in younger people with cancer,” he said. “That’s going to put a lot of stress on the healthcare system.”The WHO report states that comprehensive, integrated approaches to cancer control have better outcomes than stand-alone, disease-specific interventions. It also points out the reality that new expensive medications or technologies that produce marginal clinical gains are often funded while healthcare workforce needs and social innovations are underfunded. It calls for a global agenda that focusses on care for people with cancer, recognizing that more people live with the impacts of the disease even after being cancer-free.The report includes a nod to the impact of cancer on family members, caregivers and close friends. The rising numbers in cancer cases could be mitigated with prevention. The WHO report notes that 37.8% of new cancer diagnoses around the world are linked to modifiable risk factors. This includes tobacco use, alcohol consumption, certain infections (e.g., HPV, hepatitis B and C, Helicobacter pylori) and physical inactivity. In the region of the Americas, WHO projects 7.13 million new cancer diagnoses and it estimates 32.6% of these new cancer cases will be linked to modifiable risk factors.There have been some wins. Tobacco use has decreased by 27% since 2010 and infection-related cancer cases are fewer thanks to countries expanding vaccination coverage and infection prevention. Also, in 2010, 50% of countries had a national plan to control cancer; now 82% of countries have a plan. “While we are seeing reductions in some cancer rates in countries that have implemented prevention policies, progress has been too slow,” said Dr. Elisabete Weiderpass, director of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in a press release. “The cancer profile is evolving, increasingly driven by rising rates of obesity, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and air pollution. Cancer prevention must remain a political priority.”The WHO report notes that around the world, there are continuing and growing inequities in who can access prevention, diagnosis, treatment and supportive care for cancer. For example, in high-income countries 87% of people with breast cancer survive five years after their diagnosis. In low-income countries the figure is 42%.Dr. Stotland said that governments must begin planning now for the upward trend in cases.“Even though we’re curing a lot of cancer, just with our aging population we’re unfortunately going to see increases in the number of cancer patients seeking treatment. We need to plan for this.”The report was released in early July and is available on the WHO website. It includes an infographic showing the projections for the region of the Americas, and one with projections for the world.

Are we tackling cancer all wrong?

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