ABSTRACT
By 2050, the cancer burden could reach 24 million patients per year throughout the world, with 17 million cases occurring in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).1 Traditionally, in high-income countries (HICs), there are high rates of colorectal, lung, breast, and prostate cancer due to tobacco use, the Western diet, occupational carcinogens, and the Western lifestyle. These environmental and behavioral causes of cancer are often carcinogenic when combined with various genetic mutations. Up to 25% of cancers in LMICs, however, are caused by infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV), human papilloma virus (HPV), or Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). In LMICs, the top five cancers among females from highest incidence to lowest are breast, cervical, stomach, lung, and colorectal. Cervical cancer accounts for a higher number of deaths, despite its lower incidence, when compared to breast cancer. The five most common cancers among males in LMICs are lung, stomach, liver, esophageal, and colorectal cancer. The total number of cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to cancer by World Bank region and country income level for 2001 showed that in LMICs there were 4,955,000 deaths with 74,752,000 DALYs lost compared to 2,068,000 deaths in HICs with 25,886,000 DALYs lost.
