Overview
- An estimated 7.1 million of 18.7 million new cancer cases in 2022 (37.8%) were attributable to modifiable exposures assessed across 30 risk factors and 36 cancer types.
- Tobacco (about 15%), infectious agents such as HPV and Helicobacter pylori (about 10%), and alcohol (about 3%) were the top contributors, with lung, stomach and cervical cancers comprising roughly half of preventable cases.
- The preventable share was markedly higher in men than in women (about 45% versus 30%), reflecting differing exposure patterns and wide regional variation.
- In Spain, 41.8% of cancers in men and 26.1% in women were linked to modifiable risks, with tobacco the leading driver (28.5% in men and 9.9% in women).
- Researchers call for context-specific action spanning tobacco control, vaccination against HPV and hepatitis B, H. pylori detection and treatment, air-quality improvements, and policies to curb obesity as smoking declines but excess weight and inactivity rise.