The Cancer Crisis We Could Actually Prevent
One in Six Deaths Worldwide: Why Half of All Cancers Could Be Prevented But Aren't
Here’s a number that stopped me in my tracks: one in six people who die globally dies from cancer. That’s 9.6 million deaths every year. It’s the second leading cause of death worldwide, after heart disease.
But here’s the part that frustrates public health experts I’ve talked to: between 30% and 50% of those deaths could be prevented. We’re not talking about some miracle cure that hasn’t been invented yet. We’re talking about things we can do right now – lifestyle changes, vaccines, early screening.
So why aren’t we preventing them? That’s what I wanted to understand when I started digging into WHO’s cancer data. What I found is a story about inequality, missed opportunities, and some surprisingly simple solutions that could save millions of lives.
What Actually Is Cancer?
Before we go further, let’s clear up what cancer actually means. It’s not one disease – it’s a large group of diseases that share a common feature: cells growing out of control.
Here’s how it works. Normally, your cells divide in an orderly way. They grow, do their job, and die on schedule. But sometimes something goes wrong – maybe from tobacco smoke, maybe from a virus, maybe just random bad luck – and cells start dividing without stopping.
These abnormal cells ignore the normal rules. They invade nearby tissues where they don’t belong. Worst of all, they can break off and travel through the bloodstream to distant organs, creating new tumors. This spreading process is called metastasis, and it’s the main reason cancer is so deadly.
The Global Picture: Not All Cancers Are Equal
Different cancers affect men and women differently, which I found fascinating.
For men, the top five killers are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, and liver cancer. For women, it’s breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, and thyroid cancer.
Notice that lung and colorectal cancers appear on both lists. That’s significant because both are highly preventable. Lung cancer is overwhelmingly caused by tobacco – either smoking it or breathing someone else’s smoke. Colorectal cancer is linked to diet, obesity, and lack of physical activity.
But what really struck me in the WHO data was the massive inequality in cancer survival. In countries with strong health systems, survival rates for many cancers are improving dramatically thanks to early detection and good treatment. In low- and middle-income countries? People are dying from cancers that are completely treatable if caught early.
It’s not that these countries have different cancers or different genetics. They just lack access to the healthcare that could save lives.
The Prevention Playbook: What Actually Works
This is the hopeful part. We know exactly how to prevent a huge chunk of cancers. The science is clear. The interventions are proven. We just need to actually implement them.
Quit tobacco. This is number one for a reason. Tobacco use causes about one-third of all cancer deaths globally. Smoking causes lung cancer, obviously, but also cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and more. Even smokeless tobacco causes cancer. The good news? Your cancer risk drops significantly within years of quitting.
Maintain a healthy weight. Obesity increases risk for many cancers including breast, colorectal, kidney, esophageal, and pancreatic cancer. Even modest weight loss reduces risk.
Eat well and exercise. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in processed meats reduces cancer risk. Regular physical activity helps prevent several cancer types. These aren’t complicated interventions – they’re basic lifestyle changes.
Limit alcohol. Drinking alcohol increases risk for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, and breast. The more you drink, the higher the risk. Even moderate drinking carries some risk.
Get vaccinated. This one surprises people. Two vaccines prevent cancer: the hepatitis B vaccine (preventing liver cancer) and the HPV vaccine (preventing cervical, anal, throat, and other cancers). These are cancer vaccines, yet vaccination rates remain low in many places.
Practice safe sex. HPV is transmitted sexually and causes cervical cancer in women and other cancers in both sexes. Protection reduces infection risk.
Avoid excessive UV radiation. Skin cancer is among the most preventable cancers. Use sunscreen, avoid tanning beds, seek shade during peak sun hours.
Reduce radiation exposure. Avoid unnecessary medical imaging. If you work with radiation, follow safety protocols meticulously.
Breathe clean air. Urban air pollution and indoor smoke from cooking fires both increase cancer risk, particularly lung cancer. This is a major issue in low-income countries where millions cook with solid fuels indoors.
Get regular check-ups. Some chronic infections increase cancer risk. Hepatitis B and C cause liver cancer. H. pylori causes stomach cancer. HIV increases risk for several cancers. Treatment or management of these infections reduces cancer risk.
Early Detection: The Secret Weapon
Even when prevention fails, early detection saves lives. And I mean really saves lives.
Take breast cancer. Caught at the earliest stage and treated properly, five-year survival rates exceed 90% in many countries. Caught late, when it’s spread to distant organs, survival plummets.
Cervical cancer shows this even more dramatically. It’s one of the few cancers we can actually screen for before it becomes cancer. Pap smears and HPV tests find pre-cancerous changes that can be treated before they turn into cancer. That’s why WHO has launched a global initiative to actually eliminate cervical cancer – something that seemed impossible a decade ago but is now within reach.
The challenge? Early detection requires functioning health systems, trained staff, available equipment, and people actually accessing screening. In many countries, these don’t exist.
I read about a woman in rural Africa who developed a breast lump. By the time she could travel to a facility with a doctor, get an appointment, and receive a diagnosis, the cancer had spread. She died from a disease that would have been treatable if caught earlier.
That’s the inequality I mentioned. It’s not just unfair – it’s unnecessary.
Treatment: What Happens After Diagnosis
Modern cancer treatment typically involves surgery, medications (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy), and/or radiation therapy – often in combination.
The specific treatment depends on the cancer type, how far it’s spread, the patient’s overall health, and – crucially – what’s available. In an ideal world, a multidisciplinary team of specialists would review each case and recommend the best evidence-based treatment.
But we don’t live in an ideal world. In many countries, patients can’t access the recommended treatments. Cancer drugs are too expensive. Radiation machines don’t exist. Surgeons with cancer training are scarce.
WHO is working to change this through initiatives like the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, which aims to achieve at least 60% survival for children with cancer globally by improving access to diagnosis and treatment.
There’s also growing recognition that cancer care doesn’t end when treatment finishes. Survivorship care – monitoring for recurrence, managing long-term side effects, supporting quality of life – matters enormously to the millions of people living after cancer.
The Path Forward
What gives me hope after researching this topic is that the solutions exist. We’re not waiting for some breakthrough. We know how to prevent many cancers, detect them early, and treat them effectively.
The barriers are political will, funding, health system capacity, and equity. These are harder to solve than scientific problems, but they’re not impossible.
WHO’s cancer initiatives are making real progress. Countries are expanding HPV vaccination. Screening programs are reaching more women. Treatment access is improving in some regions.
But the pace is too slow. Every day we delay, another 26,000 people die from cancer – many from cancers that could have been prevented or cured.
The question isn’t whether we can reduce cancer deaths by 30-50%. We absolutely can. The question is whether we will – whether we’ll make the investments, change the policies, and build the health systems to actually do it.
For the 9.6 million people who will die this year and their families, the answer urgently needs to be yes.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases where abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, invade nearby tissues, and can spread to other organs through a process called metastasis. It can start in almost any organ or tissue in the body. Unlike normal cells that grow, divide, and die on schedule, cancer cells keep dividing and forming new abnormal cells.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for approximately 9.6 million deaths in 2018 – about 1 in 6 of all deaths worldwide. The cancer burden is growing globally due to aging populations, increasing exposure to risk factors, and better detection.
In men, the most common are lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach, and liver cancer. In women, the most common are breast, colorectal, lung, cervical, and thyroid cancer. However, the specific cancer types vary significantly by region due to different risk factor exposures and screening availability.
Yes! Between 30% and 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented by avoiding risk factors and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies. This includes not using tobacco, maintaining healthy weight, eating well, exercising, limiting alcohol, getting vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis B, and avoiding excessive sun exposure.
Absolutely. Tobacco use causes about one-third of all cancer deaths globally. Besides lung cancer, smoking causes cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix, and blood (acute myeloid leukemia). Even smokeless tobacco causes cancer. Quitting at any age reduces your risk.
For more information:
- WHO Cancer Overview
- Cancer Fact Sheet
- Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative
- Global Breast Cancer Initiative
Disclaimer: This article is an adaptation of publicly available information from WHO’s Cancer
health topic page (WHO, Geneva. Licence: CC BYNC-SA 3.0 IGO). WHO is not responsible for the
content or accuracy of this adaptation. This content is for informational and educational purposes
only and does not constitute medical advice. ObserverVoice.com is a news and information platform
— not a healthcare provider.
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