Where a person with cancer lives increasingly dictates their survival more than the biology of their disease, and the disparities between high- and low-/middle-income countries are widening, even with the existence of tools to mitigate them.

These were the among the conclusions of two new global reports on cancer incidence, mortality, and disparities by geography, income levels, and modifiable risk factors among men vs women.

One of these reports, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Global Status Report on Cancer 2026: The Future We Choose Together, addresses policies and progress related to cancer, and infectious causes of the disease. The other, which was published in CA: A Clinical Journal for Clinicians, focuses primarily on epidemiology. Both reach similar conclusions from different data, including what oncologists can do to improve patient outcomes.

“The starkest take-home message is that the global cancer crisis is no longer defined by a gap in scientific knowledge or treatment innovation, but by a massive implementation gap,” said Julie Gralow, MD, Chief Medical Officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, in an interview with Medscape Medical News. “The WHO report makes it clear that while 82% of countries have National Cancer Control Plans, a staggering number of these plans remain completely unfunded and unimplemented on the ground.”

The WHO report notes the large scope of the cancer burden, with 92% of people worldwide affected by cancer directly or through a family member or caregiver at least once in their lifetime. It “made visible how cancer is now a near-universal life experience, deeply shaping families, communities and health systems everywhere,” Isabelle Soerjomataram, MD, PhD, Deputy Head of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Cancer Surveillance Unit, told Medscape Medical News.

The other report, which is based in the IARC GLOBOCAN database, reveals that 1 in 5 people globally will develop cancer before they turn 75. Also, there were nearly 21 million new cases and almost 10 million deaths from cancer globally in 2024.

Incidence of Individual Cancer Types

Lung cancer remained the most commonly diagnosed (12.8%) and the leading cause of cancer death in 2024 (19.1%), the GLOBOCAN findings reveal. The next most common diagnoses were female breast, colorectal, prostate, and stomach cancers. The deadliest cancers after lung cancer were colorectal, liver, female breast, and stomach cancers.

The WHO report links moderate progress on tobacco control to implementation of the MPOWER initiatives around the world. The organization reports a 27% reduction in tobacco use worldwide from 2010 to 2025. A total of 155 countries now deploy one or more best practices from the MPOWER measures. This figure is up from 44 countries in 2007.

In terms of disparities, WHO estimated that the 5-year net survival for breast cancer is more than 85% in high-income countries like the US compared with less than 45% in low-income countries. Earlier detection in high-income countries contributes to this difference, the authors noted.

In addition, for colorectal cancer, high-income countries reached 63% 5-year survival compared with 54% in upper-middle-income and 39% in lower-middle-income countries from 2000 to 2014. For prostate cancer in the same period, the split was 90% (high) vs 80% (upper-middle) vs 59% (lower-middle), the WHO reported.

About 10% of new cancer cases in 2022 were linked to infections, predominantly viruses including H pylori, hepatitis B and C, human papillomavirus (HPV), and Epstein-Barr, the WHO noted, citing a study published in Nature Medicine. WHO credits its Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative with “substantial progress” in reducing these infection-associated cancers, especially those linked to HPV. However, by 2020 only four countries had achieved the goal of 90% of girls being fully vaccinated against HPV by age 15, other researchers reported in BMC Medicine.

The IARC provided country-level data in the GLOBOCAN report. For example, the US fact sheet reveals that 2,462,729 new cases and 632,166 deaths from cancer occurred in 2024. The lifetime risk of developing cancer before age 75 was 33.9%, with an associated 8.4% risk for death. The age-standardized incidence of all cancers was 358.5 per 100,000 Americans with a mortality rate of 80 per 100,000.

How US Oncologists Can Make a Difference

Experts called for oncologists to focus on trying to reduce the cancer burden beyond US borders and act to promote greater equity in diagnosis and treatment.

“US oncologists have a powerful voice and a professional responsibility to help bridge these disparities through structural, system-wide solutions,” Gralow said. “ASCO members and global oncology members can actively participate in bridging this gap by decentralizing clinical research, investing in the global workforce capacity, and fostering global health equity in policies.”

“The WHO report points out that simple, high-impact interventions like HPV vaccination coverage, stuck at just 31% globally, and basic diagnostic workups are entirely out of reach for billions,” she added. “The report challenges us to shift our collective mindset toward value-based adoption frameworks, ensuring that innovation is measured by actual patient outcomes and universal access worldwide, a core focus of the ASCO Center for Global Impact.”

The 31% figure is an improvement over the 17% HPV vaccination rate WHO estimated in 2019, but this “moderate progress” still falls well short of the 90% goal by 2030, the authors of the report noted.

“Every healthcare provider contributes to an ecosystem that must place people at the center, recognizing the devastating, long-lasting, and far-reaching effects of a cancer diagnosis,” the WHO wrote. “As providers, we should measure progress and innovation not only by the effect on tumors but by whether we can deliver interventions, such as patient navigation, that make good care more efficient and more equitable.”

Modifiable Risk Factors

The paper published in Nature Medicine pointed out that almost 38% of the 18.7 million cancer cases diagnosed in 2022 globally were associated with modifiable factors, including tobacco smoking, consuming alcohol, having a high BMI, and engaging in a low level of physical activity. A higher proportion of cancers in men was linked with these risk factors, 45%, compared with 30% of new cancer cases among women.

In terms of mortality, the GLOBOCAN report estimates that 48% of global cancer deaths are potentially avoidable by combining prevention through modifiable risk factors (33%) with early detection and improved access to treatment (15%).

Reducing tobacco use; treating H pylori, hepatitis B, and HPV infections; and reducing rates of obesity and alcohol use are among the targeted recommendations for cancer prevention, in the WHO report.

A Mixed Outlook

The WHO reported that between 2000 and 2019, premature mortality rates from cancer declined in 75% or 138 out of 183 countries. Its projections up to the year 2050 suggest a continued but unequal reduction across countries by income level, with the lowest decline in low- to middle-income nations.

The authors of the GLOBOCAN report predicted an increase in cancer incidence that will reach 34.4 million by 2050, up 67% from 2024, with the largest proportional increases in lower Human Development Index countries.

Soerjomataram and Gralow reported having no relevant financial relationships. Hyuna Sung reported being employed by the American Cancer Society, which receives grants from private/corporate foundations for research outside the submitted work.