While some cancers can inevitably occur, the latest findings show that nearly 4 in 10 cancers could be prevented. At the beginning of February 2026, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) published Global and regional cancer burden attributable to modifiable risk factors to inform prevention in Nature Medicine as the first global analysis of this kind.
How Everyday Habits and Environmental Factors Influence Cancer Risk
The research was conducted on the GLOBOCAN data for 185 countries between 2012 and 2022, where global and national cancer burden was attributed to 30 modifiable risk factors. The latter included tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, high body mass index, insufficient physical activity, areca nuts, suboptiomal breastfeeding, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, 9 infectious agents and 13 occupational exposures. According to the analysis, these factors were estimated as a cause for 37.8 % of new cancer cases in 2022. Similarly, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, where infectious agents were not included, attributes approximately 41.7% of global cancer deaths in 2023 to modifiable risk factors as well.
How Cancer Risk Varies by Gender, Region and Key Risk Factors
However, there are several notable differences in this overall estimation (37.8%) of new cancer cases in 2022 as a result of modifiable risk factors (IARC analysis):
- These factors globally caused 29.7% new cancer cases in women and 45.4% in men.
- This estimation varies across regions: Latin America and the Caribbean (28.6%), Northern Europe (32.1%), Oceania (33.7%), Northern Africa and Western Asia (34.4%), Western Europe (34.6%), East Asia (44.6%), etc.
Furthermore, the study globally identifies smoking tobacco, infections, alcohol and obesity (high body mass index) as leading modifiable risk factors as cause for new cancer cases in 2022, although differences between (i) women and men, and (ii) regions are also present here.
How Cancer Can Be Prevented Through Lifestyle Changes
These findings show the cancer burden can be in several cases prevented by reducing exposure to modifiable risk factors through different means: tobacco control measures, alcohol regulation, strengthened vaccination, screening programmes, equitable access to prevention services, sufficient physical activity, healthy and balanced diets, improved monitoring and enforcement of occupational health standards at worksites, workplace health promotion programmes, etc.
Quite a lot can be done by making changes in our lifestyle or taking into account recommendations. Cancer Research UK, for example, prepared a list of actions and simple tricks that any of us can follow to reduce cancer risks.
Strengthening Cancer Prevention Awareness and Exploring Further Resources
Although the main objectives of the IFIGENEIA project might seem to be more connected with the activities, that happen after the cancer has already been identified, we also aim to share useful and important information in the News section about the cancer in order to lessen the overall cancer burden (including prevention measures).
Recommended reading:
- Four in ten cancer cases could be prevented globally (WHO and IARC press release)
- The global, regional, and national burden of cancer, 1990-2023, with forecasts to 2050. a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (GBD 2023 cancer collaborators) (National Library of Medicine)