More
-
en Current language is English. Click to change language
- iarc newsletter
Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) estimate that 20.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer and 9.8 million people died from cancer in 2024, in the latest GLOBOCAN estimates of the global burden of cancer incidence and cancer mortality, published today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. These figures, representing estimates for 34 cancer types in 186 countries, are equivalent to 1 in 5 people developing cancer during their lifetime and 1 in 9 men and 1 in 13 women dying from cancer.
Lung cancer was the most frequently diagnosed cancer, responsible for about 2.6 million new cases (12.8%), followed by female breast cancer (11.8%), colorectal cancer (9.9%), prostate cancer (7.5%), and stomach cancer (4.8%). Lung cancer was also the leading cause of cancer death, responsible for an estimated 1.9 million deaths (19.1%), followed by colorectal cancer (9.4%), liver cancer (7.5%), female breast cancer (7.1%), and stomach cancer (6.6%).
Of the 20.6 million new cases, 19.5 million were of cancer types other than non-melanoma skin cancer, and of the 9.8 million deaths, 9.7 million were caused by cancer types other than non-melanoma skin cancer. The new estimates also include projections of the cancer burden to 2050; incidence is expected to increase to 34.4 million cases by 2050, an increase of 67% compared with 2024.
The data can be explored on the IARC Global Cancer Observatory visualization platform. The platform is openly accessible and offers researchers, the media, and anyone with an interest in the global cancer burden the opportunity to view the data by cancer type, country, region, income level, Human Development Index (HDI) level, and other categories.
The new estimates highlight the pressing need to accelerate and strengthen cancer control strategies globally. Reducing exposure to preventable risk factors, including tobacco use, cancer‐related infections, alcohol consumption, excess body weight, and physical inactivity, offers the most powerful and sustainable approach to decrease cancer risk and has the potential to prevent millions of future cases and deaths while generating substantial societal and economic benefits.
Sung H, Filho AM, Laversanne M, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F.
Global cancer statistics 2024: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 34 cancers in 186 countries
CA Cancer J Clin. Published online 8 July 2026;
https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.70090
