Cancer’s Global Impact: A 25-Trillion-Dollar Cost and Unequal Distribution

A new study considering treatment for 29 cancer types across 204 countries estimated that, from 2020 to 2050, cancer’s global economic cost would reach 25.2 trillion dollars. It also found substantial differences in the economic and health burden of cancer between countries and country income groups.

Cancer is among the most common causes of death worldwide. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data for 2020, approximately 10 million cancer-related deaths occurred. Cancer causes greater economic losses than other leading causes of death worldwide.

The study appeared in JAMA Oncology on 23 February 2023. The team used a macroeconomic model to determine the cost of 29 cancers. This model considered the relationship of cancer mortality and morbidity to the workforce, as well as cancer treatment expenses.

This new analysis is the first to account for productivity losses among people with different levels of education and experience. Its results fill several gaps in knowledge.

Cancer’s Cost Exceeds China’s GDP

The study’s first finding was that the cost of cancer over 30 years would reach 25 trillion dollars. This amount is equivalent to the GDP of China, the world’s largest economy in 2020.

Cancer as an Economic Burden

Cancers, which negatively affect countries’ economic growth, are increasing worldwide because of numerous risk factors, including tobacco use, alcohol use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, HPV infection and air pollution. The health burden is distributed unevenly between countries, with high-income countries facing more DALYs than low- and middle-income countries.

Cancer Types with the Highest Costs

The research shows that cancer’s economic cost is unevenly distributed across cancer types, countries and regions. With countries such as China and the United States, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and North America bear the greatest economic burden. Together, these regions account for 84.5% of cancer’s global economic cost.

The Cancer Type with the Highest Macroeconomic Cost in Each Country

The study found that lung cancer (15.4%, 3.9 trillion dollars), colon and rectal cancer (10.9%, 2.8 trillion dollars), breast cancer (7.7%, 2 trillion dollars), liver cancer (6.5%, 1.7 trillion dollars) and leukaemia (6.3%, 1.6 trillion dollars) together account for half of the global economic cost. Cervical cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia rank first in cost in many less developed countries, yet are not among the most costly cancers in developed countries.

Looking at individual countries, the team found that China faces the largest economic cost of cancer, at 6.1 trillion dollars, followed by the United States at 5.3 trillion dollars. Lung cancer causes the greatest burden in both countries.

Although three-quarters of cancer-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, the cost of cancer is much greater in high-income countries.

Conclusion

The findings emphasise that investing in effective public health interventions to reduce the cancer burden is essential to protecting global health and economic prosperity. This makes early diagnosis of cancer and the promotion of healthy living increasingly important.