ArticleThe Lancet. Global health2026
Avoidable deaths through the primary prevention, early detection, and curative treatment of cancer worldwide: a population-based study.
Article in The Lancet. Global health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- The logarithmic phase as a therapeutic direction: evaluating pharmacological strategies against cancer progression.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Review
- Cancer Science Education is Advancing, but Not Everywhere.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Public health and cancer in Latin America: the region does not lack evidence; it lacks effective state capacity, enforceable laws, sustained prevention, and early diagnosis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGlobal disparities exist in cancer incidence, mortality, and survival. We aimed to provide estimates of avoidable deaths among people diagnosed with cancer to inform the prioritisation of interventions and narrow cancer inequalities.
methodsNational incidence estimates for 35 cancer sites in 2022 for 185 countries were extracted from the GLOBOCAN database. We estimated numbers of avoidable deaths within 5 years of diagnosis for patients diagnosed with cancer in 2022, consisting of those deaths avoidable through primary prevention (preventable deaths) and those avoidable through early detection and improved access to treatment (treatable deaths) by cancer site, country, region, and human development index (HDI) group. Preventable deaths were estimated using population attributable fractions for tobacco use, alcohol consumption, excess body weight, infectious agents, and ultraviolet radiation obtained from the literature. Treatable deaths were estimated by eliminating survival differences using 5-year net survival from the SURVCAN-3 project and additional sources. Preventable, treatable, and overall avoidable deaths as proportions of the total expected deaths within 5 years of cancer diagnosis were also calculated.
findings5 years after cancer diagnosis, 4·5 million (47·6% [95% uncertainty interval 47·5-47·8]) of the 9·4 million expected deaths were avoidable. Of these avoidable deaths, 3·1 million (3·1-3·1; 33·2% [33·1-33·3] of total expected deaths) were preventable and 1·4 million (1·4-1·4; 14·4% [14·4-14·5]) were treatable. Lung, liver, stomach, colorectal, and cervical cancers contributed the greatest burden, collectively accounting for 59·1% of all avoidable deaths. Lung cancer was responsible for the most preventable deaths (1·1 million; 34·6% of all preventable deaths), while female breast cancer was responsible for the most treatable deaths (0·2 million; 14·8% of all treatable deaths). Disproportionately large proportions of avoidable deaths from cervical and breast cancer were observed in countries with a low or medium HDI.
interpretationNearly half of deaths among people diagnosed with cancer globally could be avoided through primary prevention and improvements in early detection and curative cancer treatment. Global efforts are needed to tailor prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of cancer to address inequities in avoidable deaths, especially in low and medium HDI countries.
fundingErasmus Mundus Exchange Programme and French National Cancer Institute (INCa).
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