The American Cancer Society is warning that by the year 2050, men's cancer diagnoses and deaths are predicted to increase exponentially.
In a study published this week in the ACS' journal Cancer, medical researchers said that male cancer cases are projected to increase by a whopping 84 percent, and that male cancer deaths are projected to increase by 93 percent.
Though it was published by the ACS, the study's outlook was global, and the scholars behind it primarily hailed from universities in Australia, though collaborators from Ethiopia and Hong Kong were also involved.
Using data from the Global Cancer Observatory — a project of the World Health Organization and the United Nations — this international consortium of health researchers analyzed cases of more than 30 kinds of cancer from 185 countries to reach their jarring conclusions.
While cancer rates among women are also on the rise, men are at a greater risk of developing cancer due to everything from a reticence to get screenings to biological differences, an ACS press release notes.
Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that older men fared worse across the board. The same was also true for men who live in countries with low to medium scores on the UN's human development index, which takes into account education, health, and standards of living. For reference, the country with the lowest HDI score is South Sudan, while Switzerland clocks in at the highest.
With data starting in 2022, the researchers projected that cancer cases would by 2050 increase from 10.3 million to 19 million, and that deaths will increase from 5.4 million to 10.5 million.
Beyond just warning the world with these terrifying figures, the lead author behind this study is also calling on medical practitioners and policymakers worldwide to work together to handle — and potentially reverse — this growing problem.
"A national and international collaboration, as well as a coordinated multisectoral approach, are essential to improve current cancer outcomes and to reverse the anticipated rise in cancer burden by 2050," said University of Queensland's Habtamu Mellie Bizuayehu, the study's lead author.
In the meantime, Bizuayehu urged increased access to cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment — especially for men over 65.
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