Estimates of the worldwide incidence of eighteen major cancers in 1985

TLDR

Tobacco smoking and chewing are almost certainly the major preventable causes of cancer today. The study discusses the implications of these patterns for cancer control and prevention. Annual incidence rates and numbers of new cases for 18 cancers were estimated for 1985 in 24 world areas. In 1985, 7.6 million new cancer cases were estimated worldwide, 52 % in developing countries; lung cancer was the most common overall, followed by stomach and breast cancers, while major cancers varied by region, including colon‑rectum and prostate in developed countries and cervical, oral, liver, and oesophageal cancers in developing countries.

Abstract

Abstract The annual incidence rates (crude and age‐standardized) and numbers of new cases of 18 different cancers have been estimated for the year 1985 in 24 areas of the world. The total number of new cancer cases (excluding non‐melanoma skin cancer) was 7.6 million, 52% of which occur in developing countries. The most common cancer in the world today is lung cancer, accounting for 17.6% of cancers of men worldwide, and 22% of cancers in men in the developed countries. Stomach cancer is now second in frequency (it was slightly more common than lung cancer in 1980) and breast cancer—by far the most important cancer of women (19.1% of the total)—is third. There are very large differences in the relative importance of the different cancers by world area. The major cancers of developed countries (other than the 3 already named) are cancers of the colon‐rectum and prostate, and, in developing countries, cancers of the cervix uteri, mouth and pharynx, liver and oesophagus. The implications of these patterns for cancer control, and specifically prevention, are discussed. Tobacco smoking and chewing are almost certainly the major prevent able causes of cancer today.