Cancer affects everyone regardless of age and region, with an estimated 20 million new cases globally in 2024 and almost 10 million deaths as of 2025, according to the American Association for Cancer Research.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reports that about one in five people will have cancer in their lifetime, and one in nine men and one in 12 women will die from it. Lifestyle risk factors, population growth, inequities in access to prevention and care and aging populations are some of the factors that contribute to cancer’s global burden.
In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) scarce resources, inequalities and a lack of screening and treatment initiatives threaten cancer prevention and the increasing number of cancer-related deaths requires programs that support health infrastructure to be implemented.
Initiatives that support cancer care are vital as the World Health Organization predicts there will be at least 35 million new cancer incidences by 2050, a 77% increase from the 20 million cases in 2022. Due to inadequate resources to manage cancer, LMICs will bear the brunt of the increasing incidences and deaths.
Global trends and cancer incidence & mortality data
Projected increase of cancer incidences and deaths by 2050
Despite continued efforts for the prevention and treatment of cancer, its global burden will surge by 20% between 2022 and 2030 and by more than 75% between 2022 and 2050, according to Statista 2025 projections.
Meanwhile, according to the IARC, while new cases will surge from over 20 million to 24 million between 2022 and 2030, it is estimated they will increase to at least 35 million by 2050 (Figure 1). The report also predicts that the cancer mortality rate will rise from over 9.7 million deaths in 2022 to nearly 12 million in 2025 and to at least 18.5 million by 2050 (Figure 1). This estimation demonstrates the increasing global burden of cancer, leading to the urgent need for prevention, detection and data-based health policies.
Figure 1: Projected annual number of new incidences and deaths globally
Source: International Agency for Research on Cancer Report
Main cancer types based on incidence and mortality
According to the IARC, there were 10 types of cancer that caused over two-thirds of new incidences and deaths worldwide as of 2022. In its 2024 report, lung cancer had the highest new incidence rate of over 2.5 million, while female breast cancer ranked second with about 2.3 million new cases. Other types of cancer, such as colorectal, prostate and stomach cancers, accounted for a significant percentage in terms of new incidences.
With regard to cancer mortality, WHO 2024 reports that lung cancer caused over 1.8 million deaths, the highest number, with colorectal cancer ranking second with around 900,000 deaths. Liver cancer, female breast cancer and stomach cancer all led to at least 500,000 cancer-related deaths between 2022 and 2023. A higher number of deaths occurred in LMICs compared to high-income nations.
Table 1 shows the 5 main subtypes of cancer, classified by the primary tissue where the tumor originates.
High-income nations vs LMICs: cancer-related inequities
Despite significant advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment, the region and income levels remain strong predictors of cancer outcomes in a population. Thus, developed nations that are expected to report the highest cancer incidences of almost 2 million in 2026 will nevertheless have a low number of cancer-related deaths. This is due to affordable healthcare that involves early screening, detection and treatment, improving survival rates. Conversely, despite a low incidence rate in LMICs, the mortality rate is higher due to under-resourced healthcare systems that struggle to support early screening and detection.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate this persistent disparity between high-income nations and LMICs. The incidence rate of cancer in Africa’s developing nations is a little below 1.2 million, while that of North America is 2.67 million cases. At the same time, despite the huge difference in the incidence rate, there are more deaths caused by cancer in Africa – approximately 764,000 (Figure 3), higher than the 706,000 in North America. This huge disparity requires the immediate implementation of health initiatives to support cancer care in the developing world.
Figure 2: Global cancer incidence rates by regions as of 2022
Source: GLOBOCAN Latest Global Cancer Data
Figure 3: Global cancer mortality rate by regions as of 2022
Source: GLOBOCAN Latest Global Cancer Data
Development assistance initiatives for cancer control and treatment in developing nations
We consider five programs that are addressing the persistent disparities in cancer prevention and treatment in developing nations:
🔹 IAEA’s Rays of Hope Initiative: Launched in 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s program has provided at least 90 sets of diagnostic and treatment equipment (including linear accelerators and mammography machines) to developing nations. At least 100 nations have joined the initiative, raising approximately €90 million to support it. Additionally, 18 anchor institutions have trained over 700 oncologists on the effective use of radiation medicine.
🔹 AWS Children’s Innovation Initiative: This involves an over US$10 million commitment to support pediatric cancer prevention and treatment in low-resource regions like Africa. It utilizes cloud computing, AI and health data approaches to improve cancer detection and clinical decision-making.
🔹 The West Africa-U.S. Cancer Prevention and Control Initiative: An investment of approximately US$18 million is promoting research capacity in Western Africa. The program is creating and implementing evidence-based screening, diagnostic and treatment resources in the region, mainly focusing on cervical cancer.
🔹 The Pfizer Foundation’s Cancer Care Initiative: This aims to tackle disparities in breast cancer results between developed and developing nations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The Foundation announced a three-year, US$10 million investment to expand access to breast cancer screening and diagnosis in Ethiopia and Kenya, which had previously been unreachable.
🔹 Partnership of the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Aga Khan: Launched in early 2025, this program focuses on addressing women’s cancer in Tanzania and Kenya. The initiative aims to benefit more than 7.4 million people via cancer awareness programs and offer breast and cervical cancer screening for at least 400,000 women. The approximately €10 million investment is financed by AFD, the Gates Foundation and the Aga Khan Foundation.
Wrap up
The trends and statistics of cancer incidence and mortality demonstrate a rapidly increasing cancer burden, particularly in developing nations that have scarce resources. The growing gaps in early detection and treatment depict the increasing global inequities between high-income and LMICs. Despite global health funding cuts, health stakeholders should pool resources to increase health financing for cancer care in developing nations, ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all as per SDG 3.
