Infections behind 12% of global cancer cases, many potentially preventable
What Happened
A study from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), published in The Lancet Oncology, estimates that infections were responsible for 2.3 million new cancer cases in 2024, around 12% of all new cases worldwide. The largest contributors were Helicobacter pylori, linked to about 760,000 cases, and human papillomavirus (HPV), linked to around 750,000. Hepatitis B accounted for about 360,000 cases, Epstein-Barr virus for 260,000, and hepatitis C for 160,000.
Key Takeaways
Many infection-related cancers could potentially be prevented through measures including HPV and hepatitis B vaccination, screening, and diagnosis and treatment of infections such as H. pylori and hepatitis C. More than three-quarters of infection-related cancers were reported in low- and middle-income countries.