In 2020, 907,205 people were diagnosed with liver cancer and 830,200 died from it worldwide. And these figures could increase sharply, or even double in the coming years. According to a recent analysis by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and published in the Journal of Hepathologythe number of people developing the disease or dying could increase by 55% by 2040.
At the current rate, 1.4 million people will be diagnosed and 1.3 million people will die of liver cancer in the next 20 years, the authors estimate. That’s an increase of some 500,000 cases and deaths per year,”unless we achieve a substantial decrease in liver cancer rates through primary prevention”said Harriet Rumagay, epidemiologist at IARC and lead author of the study.
In a new #IARCpaper published today in @JHepatologyIARC scientists & partners estimate the global burden of liver cancer in 2020 & predict that the annual number of new cases & deaths will increase by more than 55% by 2040. pic.twitter.com/YXudRWEsLX
— IARC (@IARCWHO) October 6, 2022
Currently, liver cancer represents one of the three leading causes of death in 46 countries and is among the top five in nearly 100 countries. The number of cases and deaths is notably higher in East and Southeast Asia, as well as in North Africa. In France, 10,580 new cases of primary liver cancer were diagnosed, nearly 80% of them in men. And its incidence has already tripled in thirty years.
Cancer “largely preventable“
And yet, according to the authors, this cancer would be “largely avoidable” with control efforts. “The main risk factors being hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, alcohol consumption, excess weight and metabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes”, adds the co-author of the study Isabelle Soerjomataram. For example, alcohol alone causes 4,300 liver cancers each year and according to another IARC study, 17% of liver cancer cases diagnosed in 2020 could have been prevented by reducing alcohol consumption. Smoking can also be an important risk factor.
IARC researchers insist on the need to strengthen the progress around the fight against hepatitis B and C which has been largely slowed down by the pandemic. They also call for more “measures to reduce the population’s alcohol consumption and curb the increase in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity“, as well as more tests, vaccines and treatments.”There is a vaccine against hepatitis B and treatments that can cure hepatitis C in a few monthsindicated to Top Health Dr. Cindy Neuzillet, medical oncologist at Institut Curie. In prevention of liver cancer, you must also control your weight and have regular physical activity.“, she advises.
In 2022, liver cancer remains a cancer with poor prognosis and recurrence in 70% of cases : the five-year survival rate for people with the disease is less than 30%. A rate which has tripled compared to 1990, but which is still low. Nevertheless, thanks to advances in screening, patients with an early stage (0 and A) of the disease have a survival rate of 70 to 80% at five years.
Sources:
- Global burden of primary liver cancer in 2020 and predictions to 2040, Journal of HepathologyOctober 5, 2022
- Liver cancer: the number of new cases and deaths is expected to increase by more than 55% by 2040UN News, 6 October 2022