Overview

• Sixty-five percent of avoided cancer deaths occurred between 2009 and 2018, reflecting accelerated progress in the past decade.
• Anti-smoking campaigns since the 1980s and expanded breast, cervical and stomach screenings have driven down mortality rates for those cancers.
• Deaths from liver and brain tumours have continued to rise, underscoring gaps in current screening and prevention strategies.
• Researchers analysed WHO global data and age-standardised mortality rates from 1950 to 2018 to quantify more than 230,000 averted deaths.
• With cancer incidence expected to grow by about 50% by 2044, experts are calling for increased investment in targeted prevention, early detection and research.