The Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer: one-year countdown

Globally, each year an estimated 9 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in women and more than 4 million women die from cancer. A vast body of research exists describing cancer in women, but many aspects pertaining to cancer development in women have not yet been comprehensively assessed. Two-thirds of all cancer diagnoses in people aged 20–49 years – an age group that is traditionally very economically productive and socially important in terms of starting families and caring for children – occur in women. This particular cancer burden has considerable impacts on the lives and livelihoods of these women, on their families, and on society as a whole.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is a proud partner of the Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer. Dr Isabelle Soerjomataram, Deputy Head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch at IARC, is a co-chair of the Commission, together with Dr Ophira Ginsburg of the United States National Cancer Institute and Dr Verna Vanderpuye of the National Centre for Radiotherapy, Oncology, and Nuclear Medicine at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. These researchers are working together with multidisciplinary commissioners from around the globe on the Commission Report, which is scheduled to be launched on International Women’s Day 2023.

To mark International Women’s Day 2022, Dr Soerjomataram and Dr Vanderpuye outline the ongoing research for the Commission in a podcast with The Lancet. They discuss the repercussions of cancer in women, which go beyond the tumours that women develop. They also highlight the gender inequality in cancer care and in the cancer care workforce, advocating for a gender-tailored approach to cancer prevention, care, and policy.

Listen to the podcast

Read more about the Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer

Ginsburg O, Horton R.
A Lancet Commission on women and cancer
Lancet, Published online 2 July 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31479-3

Vaccarella V, Ginsburg O, Bray F.
Gender inequalities in cancer among young adults
Lancet Oncol, Published online 1 February 2021;
https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(21)00001-2