1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide linked to infections

Key Points:

• A new study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found that infections caused one in eight cancer cases globally in 2024, accounting for 2.3 million new cases or 12% of all cancers that year.
• The five main infectious agents linked to cancer were Helicobacter pylori, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), with H. pylori and HPV responsible for the highest numbers of cases.
• The cancer burden from infections was highest in Eastern Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and South-East Asia, reflecting regional differences in infection prevalence, healthcare access, and socio-economic factors.
• Many infection-associated cancers are preventable through vaccination, screening, and treatment, but these interventions are underused or inaccessible in low- and middle-income countries due to financial, social, and political barriers.
• Researchers urge policymakers to prioritize scaling up proven prevention measures such as HPV and HBV vaccination, infection testing and treatment, safe transmission practices, and cervical cancer screening to reduce the global cancer burden linked to infections.