How common is lung cancer? A complete analysis of global and Chinese incidence data

Author: Gao Xuehan Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Reviewer: Guo Chao, deputy chief physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Li Danqing, Chief Physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and a major obstacle to extending the quality of life of the people. my country is one of the countries with the highest number of cancer cases and deaths in the world, so it is particularly important to pay attention to cancer prevention, treatment and screening.

Figure 1 Regional distribution of cancer incidence and mortality in the world in 2020 (copyrighted images are not authorized for reproduction)

So, among the many types of cancer, which one can win the crown and become the king of cancer?

The answer is - lung cancer!

Figure 2 Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Lung cancer ranks at the top in both incidence and mortality statistics, and is the undisputed champion among cancers. So what are its global and domestic incidence rates? Let's take a look.

1. Global Data

According to data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (GLOBOCAN), a project of the World Health Organization, there were approximately 2.2 million new cases of lung cancer and 1.8 million new deaths from lung cancer in 2020. Among men, lung cancer is the most common cancer, and among women, it is the third most common cancer after breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Regardless of gender, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death.

Simply put, approximately 1 in every 10 cancer diagnoses is lung cancer (11.4%); and 1 in every 5 cancer deaths is due to lung cancer (18.0%).

Figure 2 Statistics of the incidence and mortality of the 10 most common cancers in the world in 2020 (male) (copyrighted images are not authorized for reproduction)

2. China Data

According to the data from the "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Lung Cancer (2022 Edition)" and "Cancer Morbidity and Mortality in China in 2016", lung cancer is the malignant tumor with the fastest increasing incidence in my country in the past 30 years. From 1940 to 1970, the data from the first retrospective survey on causes of death in my country showed that lung cancer mortality ranked fifth among all cancer mortality rates. In 2004, the third retrospective survey on causes of death showed that lung cancer had become the leading cause of cancer death.

According to data from the China Cancer Registry, there were 787,000 new cases of lung cancer in my country in 2015, including 520,000 males and 267,000 females. The incidence of lung cancer accounts for 20.0% of all malignant tumors, nearly one-fifth, which is higher than the global data. The incidence of lung cancer in both urban and rural areas ranks first among malignant tumors, with the urban incidence higher than that in rural areas. Data released by the National Cancer Center in 2016 showed that the crude incidence of lung cancer was 77.6/100,000 for males and 41.3/100,000 for females; the age-standardized incidence (adjusted according to the world standard population age) was 49.8/100,000 for males and 23.7/100,000 for females.

In terms of mortality, there were 630,000 lung cancer deaths in China in 2015, including 433,000 males and 197,000 females. Lung cancer accounts for 27.0% of all malignant tumor deaths, more than a quarter. The national lung cancer mortality rate is 45.9/100,000. In terms of regional distribution, the lung cancer mortality rate in cities is higher than in rural areas. The lung cancer mortality rate in the eastern region is the highest, followed by the central region, and the lowest in the western region. In terms of age distribution, the lung cancer mortality rate in my country is at a low level among people under 44 years old, rises rapidly after 45 years old, reaches a peak at 80-84 years old, and then declines.

In 2024, the National Cancer Center released the 2022 China's malignant tumor disease burden based on the latest data from tumor registration and follow-up monitoring. In the 2022 statistics, there were 1.0606 million new cases of lung cancer, with an incidence rate of 75.13/100,000, and the incidence rate in men was still higher than that in women. It is worth noting that this statistic shows that the incidence rate of lung cancer ranks first among both male and female patients (91.36/100,000 for men and 58.18/100,000 for women). The incidence rate of lung cancer in women in my country is on the rise as a whole, surpassing breast cancer to become the cancer with the highest incidence rate. In terms of mortality, lung cancer still ranks first in mortality rate for both men and women.

It can be seen that thanks to the improvement of people's health awareness and the popularization of lung cancer screening, the incidence of detectable lung cancer in my country has been increasing year by year, and the following characteristics can be summarized: males are higher than females, cities are higher than rural areas, and the east is higher than the west.

Therefore, lung cancer is the well-deserved leader in both morbidity and mortality in my country, and we need to be vigilant. Doing a good job in lung cancer screening and prevention is an important task to protect people's health!

References

[1]SUNG H, FERLAY J, SIEGEL RL, et al. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries [J]. CA Cancer J Clin, 2021, 71(3): 209-49.

[2] General Office of the National Health Commission. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of primary lung cancer (2022 edition)[J]. Journal of Peking Union Medical College, 2022, 13(4): 549-570.

[3] Zheng Rongshou, Zhang Siwei, Sun Kexin, et al. Analysis of the prevalence of malignant tumors in China in 2016[J]. Chinese Journal of Oncology, 2023, 45(3): 212-220.

[4] Zheng Rongshou, Chen Ru, Han Bingfeng, et al. Analysis of the prevalence of malignant tumors in China in 2022[J]. Chinese Journal of Oncology, 2024, 46(3): 221-231.