Breast and Cervical Cancer Claim More Lives in Developing Countries

Breast and cervical cancer cases and deaths are rising in most areas of the world, and this is especially true in developing countries where more women are dying at younger ages, according to a new global analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The new study, “Breast and cervical cancer trends for 187 countries between 1980 and 2010: a systematic analysis,” is published in The Lancet.

The analysis shows:

• In just 3 decades, breast cancer cases exceeded the global population growth and more than doubled in number around the world, from 641,000 cases in 1980 to 1.6 million cases in 2010
• Deaths from breast cancer rose from 250,000 to 425,000 during that same period. The slower increase in deaths compared to the large rise in cases suggests that screening and treatment programs are positively impacting survival
• Breast cancer cases in developed countries amounted to 65% of all cases worldwide in 1980
• By 2010, the majority of cases were found in developing countries, and the fraction of breast cancer cases in the developed world shrank to less than half
• During the same period, breast cancer cases rose more than 7.5% annually, more than twice the global rate, in some developing countries
• From 1980 to 2010, cervical cancer cases grew from 378,000 cases to 454,000; cervical cancer deaths grew at nearly the same rate as cases over the same period
• Of all new cervical cancer cases, 76% occur in developing regions; Sub-Saharan Africa alone makes up 22%

“We are seeing the burden of breast and cervical cancer shifting to low-income countries in Africa and Asia. This is one of the early signs of the emerging threat of noncommunicable diseases in these countries. Everyone has been talking about that threat. Now the trend is clear,” said Dr Rafael Lozano, Professor of Global Health at IHME and one of the paper’s co-authors.

Source: IHME.