A new report from the World Health Organization warns that the number of people diagnosed with cancer each year is expected to surge over the next quarter-century.
The report projects annual cancer diagnoses will climb from about 20 million today to nearly 35 million by 2050.
While some cancers are declining thanks to prevention efforts, experts warn aging populations, rising obesity rates and other risk factors will place unprecedented pressure on health-care systems around the world.
“We need to focus attention on what some people are calling the cancer tsunami,” said Dr. Peter Stotland, chief of surgery and a surgical oncologist at North York General Hospital.
Stotland told Global News the findings mirror what doctors are already seeing in Canada.
“We’re seeing just higher numbers of people coming in with cancer,” he said, pointing to an aging population that is expected to drive increases in lung, prostate and colorectal cancers.
“I think it’s shocking because this is something that we’re seeing on a regional, provincial level and a national level,” he said.
At the same time, doctors are also seeing more young people diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
“We can be seeing two spikes… one in older people and another in younger people with cancer,” he said. “That’s going to put a lot of stress on the health-care system.”
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The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates cancer cases will increase worldwide over the next 25 years, though the reasons vary by region.
Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, a medical doctor and deputy head of the agency’s Cancer Surveillance Branch, said higher-income countries such as Canada will likely see more cases among older adults.
“We are really not equipped to handle this increasing demand,” she said, noting the imbalance between the growing number of cancer patients and the health-care workforce needed to care for them.
The report also found cancer reaches far beyond those diagnosed.
Researchers estimate that while roughly 20 million people receive a cancer diagnosis each year, about 92 per cent of the world’s population is personally affected through a family member, caregiver or close friend.
Toronto resident Nadia Headley knows that impact first hand.
Headley was just 30 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer while raising her four-year-old daughter.
“I immediately went into mom mode,” she said, recalling receiving the diagnosis with her daughter in the room.
“I tried so hard to stay strong in front of my daughter.”
She said explaining cancer to a young child while navigating treatment herself was one of the hardest parts of the experience.
“‘Mommy is not well and the doctors need to fix mommy’s body,’” she remembered telling her daughter. “‘The medication they’re going to give mommy is going to make mommy feel really sick.’”
Today, Headley is cancer-free but continues to live with the long-term effects of treatment, including lymphedema.
“It’s not an open-and-closed case as you might think,” she said. “There are side effects from treatment as well.”
Despite the projections, experts say millions of future cancer cases could still be prevented.
The WHO estimates roughly four in 10 cancers are linked to preventable risk factors such as tobacco use, obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and certain infections.
Stotland said Canadians can lower their risk through healthy lifestyle choices and benefit from recommended screening programs, including breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening.
“So many cancers can be picked up with this type of screening,” he said.
For governments, however, both experts say planning must begin now. “Cancer is not going anywhere,” Stotland said.
“Even though we’re curing a lot of cancer, just with our aging population we’re unfortunately going to see increases in the number of cancer patients seeking treatment. We need to plan for this.”
–with files from Katherine Ward, Global News
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