Cancer in 2024: These will be the most common and deadliest tumors

By gender among men, as in 2023, the majority will be prostate, colon and rectum, lungs and bladder. And in women – breasts, colon and rectum. It should be noted that in this latter group of women, lung cancer remains the third most common cancer as of 2019, and this is mainly due to the increase in tobacco consumption since the 1970s.

Reasons for the increase in the number of tumors

Among the reasons for the increase in the number of cancer cases diagnosed in our country, Redecan President Jaume Galceran points out:

• Population growth (in 1990 the population of Spain was about 38,850,000 inhabitants, in 2022 – 47,435,597 people)
  
• Aging population (age is a fundamental risk factor for cancer)
  
• Exposure to risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, pollution, obesity or a sedentary lifestyle.
  
• Early detection of certain types of cancer, such as colorectal, breast, cervical or prostate cancer.

At the same time, the expert notes, “due to the reduction in smoking, there is a clear decrease in the incidence of lung and bladder cancer in men, and in women, the incidence of lung cancer in 2024 will increase almost three times compared to 2003.”

Despite everything, and according to INE,”tobacco consumption in 2022 remained higher among men than among women, with 20.2% daily smokers among men and 13.9% among women, although there is a downward trend compared to previous years.” Therefore, together with the latent period between tobacco exposure and tumor appearance The incidence of tobacco-related cancers remains much higher among men. However, he laments, “it is very likely that the incidence of these cancers in women will continue to rise in the coming years.”

In recent years, There is a constant increase in the incidence of breast cancer in women, colon cancer in men, and lymphomas of the pancreas, kidneys, thyroid and non-Hodgkin lymphomas in both sexes. In the case of thyroid cancer, “the most important reason for the increase is probably overdiagnosis.”

Survival

In terms of net survival five years after diagnosis for patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2013, Spain was 55.3% for men and 61.7% for women. This difference, according to the report, is likely due to the fact that certain tumors are more common in one sex than the other, since the most important differences in survival are due to tumor type (along with stage at diagnosis).

So, for men:

Age-standardized net survival was 90% for prostate and testicular cancer and 86% for thyroid cancer, 7% for pancreatic cancer, 12% for lung cancer, 13% for esophageal cancer, and 18% for liver cancer.

V women:

The net survival rate for thyroid cancer was 93%, for skin melanoma – 89%, for breast cancer – 86%, for pancreatic cancer – 10%, for liver and esophageal cancer – 16%, and for lung cancer – 18%.

” survival of cancer patients in Spain is similar to that in neighboring countries. Estimated has doubled over the past 40 years and it is likely that, although slowly, it will continue to increase in the coming years, due to the use of new treatments and the increased adoption of screening, for example for colorectal cancer, in recent years,” says Cesar Rodriguez, head of the Medical Center. Oncological Service of the University Clinical Hospital of Salamanca and President of SEOM.

The deadliest tumors

As for cancer mortality worldwide, according to experts, it is expected to increase in the coming years. In particular, a figure of more than 16 million people in 2040 is being considered. In particular, in Spain it will increase from 113,000 in 2020 to more than 150,000 in 2040.

The cancers responsible for the most deaths worldwide were (in order):

• Lung cancer (18.2% of total cancer deaths)
  
• Colorectal (9.5%)
  
• Liver (8.4%)
  
• Gastric (7.8%)
  
• Chest (6.9%).

IN Spainanother year, Tumors account for almost a quarter of deaths in Spain (24.7% of deaths), second only to diseases of the circulatory system (26.1% of deaths).

Among deaths from tumors, the most common causes in Spain in 2022, as in previous years, are Cancers of the lung, colon, pancreas, breast and prostate occur.

As for men in Spain in 2022, Lung cancer is again causing more deathsThis is followed by cancer of the colon, prostate, pancreas, liver and bile ducts, and bladder. In women, breast cancer was the tumor responsible for the highest mortality rate, followed by lung, colon and pancreatic cancer.

It is important to note that despite this absolute increase in the number of cancer deaths in 2022, overall “Over the past decades, cancer mortality in Spain has decreased sharply.although this reduction is not uniform across all tumors or by gender.”

These trends reflect improvements in “tumor patient survival due to preventive interventions, early diagnosis, therapeutic advances, and in men – a decrease in prevalence smoking”

Other changes, such as increased incidence of lung cancer caused by environmental pollution, hepatitis virus treatment, etc., will take time to become apparent.