Cancer burdens around the world are highest in developed countries, particularly in North America and Oceania, numbers from the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer show. This is after adjusting the rates of cancer cases and deaths for age, therefore eliminating the issue of aging populations in many richer countries interfering with the data. The higher rates in richer nations can be explained by cancer being diagnosed more often, but also by more people being able to survive cancer and pass on more of their genes that might enable cancer. Lifestyle factors, like smoking and drinking alcohol, can also play a role in someone developing the disease.
Among rich countries, those in North America and Oceania had higher cancer rates overall in 2022 than Europe after adjusting for age differences. Australia and New Zealand stand out in this due to high rates of melanoma, an aggressive type of skin cancer. While North American and Scandinavian countries are also seeing above-average rates of melanoma, the U.S. struggles with high lung cancer rates, while Scandinavia has a higher incidence of colorectal cancer, together making the latter region the most affected in Europe.
In terms of poor incidence scores for North America, it is not a single type of cancer that causes the region to rank as one of the most affected by the disease, but rather elevated rates across different types. In terms of mortality, however, North America - and the United States specifically - beats both Europe and Oceania. According to an investigation by Politico, one factor influencing the United States' positive performance is the standardized system of insuring those over the age of 65 - Medicare - which has been linked to a higher standard of care throughout the elderly U.S. population. Another is innovative drugs and treatments being passed on to patients more quickly and deliberately in a country where a lot of medical research originates.
In countries with a very high or high score on the Human Development Index, the rate of cancer incidence stood at 261.3 and 184.2 in 100,000 people (age-adjusted) in 2022. This was significantly lower in countries that ranked towards the bottom of the index, with medium and low scorers only seeing age-adjusted rates of around 110 in 100,000 people that year. When it comes to mortality, however, rates are closer together, with around 94-96 in 100,000 dying in more developed countries and between 73-76 in 100,000 perishing from cancer in less developed nations annually. This shows how the high rate of diagnosis in richer places does not necessarily correlate with mortality, but also that even early diagnoses and better treatment options in more developed locations still cannot push rates below those of lower-income countries.
Looking at lower scorers on the HDI, the rate of cancer deaths in the countries scoring poorest surpasses that of countries ranking as medium, showing that despite cancer incidents and deaths actually being quite low in the poorest nations, closing gaps in treatment in these locations could potentially save more people there.