Marc Arbyn (Belgium)
Sciensano Cancer epidemiologyPresenter of 4 Presentations
Introduction by Chairs (ID 1714)
Webcast
WORLDWIDE BURDEN OF CERVICAL CANCER IN 2018 (ID 976)
Abstract
Introduction
The knowledge that persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the main cause of cervical cancer has resulted in the development of prophylactic vaccines to prevent the HPV infection and HPV assays that detect the virus Given the recent call from WHO to scale up preventive, screening and treatment interventions to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem during this century, it is timely to assess the current burden of the disease as a baseline from which to assess the impact of the global initiative.
Methods
Visual and tabular descriptions of national estimates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality in 2018 are presented from GLOBOCAN, the recently compiled database from IARC of cancer estimates for 185 countries.
Results
There were an estimated 570,000 cases of cervical cancer and 311,000 deaths from the disease in 2018. It is the fourth most common female cancer ranking after breast cancer (2.1 million cases), colorectal cancer (0.8 million cases) and lung cancer (0.7 million). The incidence of cervical cancer varies widely among countries with estimated world-age-standardised rates ranging from less than 1 to 75 per 100,000. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in Eastern, Western, Middle and Southern Africa. The highest incidence rate is estimated in the Kingdom of Eswatini, with ~ 6.5% of women developing cervical cancer before the age of 75. China and India contribute over one third of the global cervical burden with 106,000 and 97,000 cases and 48,000 and 60,000 deaths, respectively. More than the other major cancers, the disease affects women <45 years.
Conclusions
Cervical cancer continues to be a major public health problem affecting young women particularly in low and middle-income countries. The global scale-up of HPV vaccination and HPV-based screening – including self-sampling – may make cervical cancer a rare disease in the decades to come.