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Preventable Cancers: Top 3 Causes Revealed
3 Feb
Summary
- Smoking is the leading preventable cause of cancer globally.
- Excess body fat and UV radiation are also major risk factors.
- Millions of cancer cases diagnosed worldwide are preventable.
Globally, approximately 7.1 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2022 were preventable, according to researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This figure represents about 37.8% of the total cancer burden. The primary preventable causes identified are smoking, excess body fat, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
Tobacco smoking emerged as the leading cause, accounting for an estimated 3.3 million cases worldwide. In the UK, smoking was linked to 16.2% of new cancer cases. Excess body fat was the second significant risk factor, responsible for a substantial number of cases, particularly in women where it was a leading cause. Ultraviolet radiation, from both the sun and sunbeds, also contributes significantly to preventable cancers, with sunbeds being classified as dangerous as smoking by the WHO.
Experts emphasize that prevention strategies should focus on risk reduction without assigning blame, promoting policy and structural solutions. The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions to address these modifiable risk factors and reduce the global cancer burden. Each country is advised to tailor prevention efforts to its specific cancer profile.
