World Cancer Day: Early detection remains crucial

Among the leading causes of death worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 9.6 million people lost their lives to cancer in 2018.

Cancer is a group of diseases that attack any organ or tissue in the body. Eventually, the abnormal cells invade adjoining body parts, invading more cancer cells. Without early detection, it can also result in the loss of human life.

The burden of this disease grows continuously; individuals feel the pressure on a physical, emotional and financial level, Longevity reported.

Each year, World Cancer Day is observed on February 4 around the world to increase awareness of cancer-related issues.

The multi-year theme for World Cancer Day 2022-2024 is “Close the Care Gap and it focuses more on exposure, engagement and opportunities to meet global awareness of Cancer Day.

Meanwhile, nearly half of cancers worldwide can be traced back to a known risk factor, primarily tobacco or alcohol, a huge global study found on Friday, which said that behavioral changes can help reduce the threat of disease.

The study—published in The Lancet and conducted as part of a vast research program funded by the Bill Gates Foundation—concluded that 44.4 percent of cancer deaths worldwide were attributable to a known risk factor, AFP reported.

The Global Burden of Disease Study is a comprehensive regional and global research program involving thousands of researchers from most countries across the world.

The study analyzed the impact of 34 risk factors and confirmed what is already widely known—that tobacco is by far the biggest contributory factor to cancer, accounting for 33.9 percent of cases, followed by alcohol with 7.4 percent.

More than half of all male cancer deaths were attributable to such risk factors, and over a third of female deaths, the study found.

And since “the leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioral… reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality” worldwide, the study concluded.

That also meant greater emphasis should be placed on prevention, the study found.

However, around half of cancers are not attributable to a known risk factor, meaning early diagnosis and effective treatments must accompany efforts to raise prevention efforts, the study found.