Study: 38% of 2022 Global Cancers Preventable

A new global study estimates that nearly 38 percent of the 18.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed worldwide in 2022 could have been prevented through reductions in modifiable risk factors, highlighting opportunities for public health interventions to curb the disease's rising toll.

The analysis, published in the journal Nature Medicine, examined data from 185 countries and 36 cancer types, linking current diagnoses to exposure levels of 30 preventable risks around a decade earlier. Researchers focused on behavioral factors like tobacco use and alcohol consumption, as well as infections, obesity, physical inactivity, air pollution and occupational hazards. Cancers often emerge years after initial exposure, so the study used 2012 prevalence data to attribute the 7.1 million preventable cases identified.

Tobacco smoking emerged as the leading contributor, responsible for 15.1 percent of all new cases, or about 3.3 million globally. It was particularly dominant among men, accounting for 23.1 percent of their cancers and nearly 60 percent of lung cancer cases in that group. Infections followed at 10.2 percent, or roughly 2.3 million cases, with alcohol consumption linked to 3.2...