Interpretation and analysis of the Global Cancer Statistics Report 2024: a comparison between China and the world_CHINESE JOURNAL OF BASES AND CLINICS IN GENERAL SURGERY

Authors：

LI Xiang , LI Hengxi , ZHENG Rongshou ,  SUN Kexin

Office for Cancer Registry, National Cancer Center / National Clinical Research Center for Cancer / Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, P. R. China;

Corresponding?author：

SUN Kexin, Email: skxgentle@cicams.ac.cn

Keywords：

cancer burden; human development index; GLOBOCAN; world; China

DOI：

10.7507/1007-9424.202607137

Video：

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Objective This study aims to analyze the current epidemiological status of cancer in China and worldwide, based on global cancer statistics released by GLOBOCAN 2024. Methods Cancer incidence and mortality data stratified by age, sex, cancer site, human development index (HDI) tier and geographic region were extracted from the GLOBOCAN 2024 database. Indicators including incidence, mortality rates were compared between China and the world. Results Globally, there were an estimated 20.637 million new cases and 9.763 million cancer deaths in 2024. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) was 194.9 per 100 000 and the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) was 87.8 per 100 000 in 2024. The age specific incidence rate and mortality rate both increased with age. The ASIR of all cancers increased with the increase of HDI, peaking at 279.6 per 100 000 in very high HDI regions. The ASMR of all cancers was highest in very high HDI regions (92.2 per 100 000) and lowest in medium HDI regions (68.6 per 100 000). The top five most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide were lung, breast, colorectal, prostate and stomach cancer, while the five leading causes of cancer death globally were lung, colorectal, liver, breast and stomach cancer. Globally, men exhibited higher numbers of new cases, ASIR, death counts and ASMR compared with women. Lung cancer ranked first in both incidence and mortality among men, whereas breast cancer was the leading cancer in terms of incidence and mortality among women. In China, there were an estimated 5.151 million new cases and 2.582 million cancer deaths. The ASIR was 207.7 per 100 000 and the ASMR was 90.9 per 100 000 in 2024. The ASIR and ASMR in China ranked 63rd and 66th respectively across 186 countries. The five commonly diagnosed cancers in China were lung, thyroid, colorectal, breast and liver cancer, while the five leading causes of cancer death in China were lung, liver, colorectal, stomach and esophageal cancer. Conclusions The global cancer burden remains substantial, with marked disparities in cancer spectra across regions at varying levels of development. New cases and deaths from cancer in China accounted for approximately a quarter of the global total, with the incidence and mortality burden of cancers such as lung, liver and colorectal cancer being particularly pronounced, reflecting a situation where the cancer profiles of both developing and developed countries coexist. Analyzing China’s cancer burden can provide scientific evidence to inform the development of cancer prevention and control strategies tailored to national conditions.

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1. Tu Z, Yu Y, Li C, et al. Global epidemiological trend of cancer incidence and death in adults aged 60 years and older: a systematic analysis of data from GLOBOCAN 2022 and GBD2021 [J/OL]. BMC Geriatr, 2025, 26(1): 22. doi: 10.1186/s12877-025-06632-y.
2. Liu J, Gan T, Hu W, et al. Current status and perspectives in environmental oncology [J]. Chronic Dis Transl Med, 2024, 10(4): 293-301.
3. Sung H, Filho AM, Laversanne M, et al. Global cancer statistics 2024: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 34 cancers in 186 countries [J/OL]. CA Cancer J Clin, 2026, 76(4): e70090. doi: 10.3322/caac.70090.
4. WHO. ICD-10: international statistical classification of diseases and related health problems: tenth revision [M/OL]. 2nd ed. (2004-10-08) [2026-07-12]. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/42980.
5. United Nations Development Programme. Human development index [EB/OL]. (2022-09-08) [2026-06-20]. https://hdr.undp.org/.
6. Ferlay J, Colombet M, Soerjomataram I, et al. Estimating the global cancer incidence and mortality in 2018: GLOBOCAN sources and methods. Int J Cancer, 2019, 144(8): 1941-1953.
7. International Agency for Research on Cancer. CANCER TODYA: data and methods [EB/OL]. (2026-07-08) [2026-07-12]. https://gco.iarc.who.int/today/en/data-sources-methods.
8. Cao W, Qin K, Li F, et al. Socioeconomic inequalities in cancer incidence and mortality: an analysis of GLOBOCAN 2022 [J]. Chin Med J (Engl), 2024, 137(12): 1407-1413.
9. Liu W, Peng Z, Guo Y, et al. Comparative analysis of tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer burden trends between China and the global population (1990-2021) [J]. J Thorac Dis, 2025, 17(6): 3772-3782.
10. Huang J, Deng Y, Tin MS, et al. Distribution, risk factors, and temporal trends for lung cancer incidence and mortality: a global analysis. Chest, 2022, 161(4): 1101-1111.
11. Han B, Zheng R, Zeng H, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality in China, 2022 [J]. J Natl Cancer Cent, 2024, 4(1): 47-53.
12. Li M, Wen X, Liang X, et al. Global, regional, and national lifetime risk of developing and dying from lung cancer in 2022: a population-based study in 185 countries [J]. Chin Med J (Engl), 2024, 137(24): 3101-3107.
13. Sun K, Zhang B, Lei S, et al. Incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years of female breast cancer in China, 2022 [J]. Chin Med J (Engl), 2024, 137(20): 2429-2436.
14. Ma S, Sun K, Han B, et al. Cervical cancer burden and trends in China, 2000-2020: Asia-Pacific international comparisons and insights for elimination goals [J]. Cancer Biol Med, 2025, 22(9): 1017-1035.
15. 王貴齊, 魏文強. 上消化道癌篩查和早診早治項目的新轉變: 機會性篩查 [J]. 中華預防醫學雜志, 2019, 53(11): 1084-1087.
16. 唐林, 許俠, 周澤玫, 等. 中國乙型肝炎疫苗免疫策略及接種進展 [J]. 臨床肝膽病雜志, 2025, 41(2): 210-215.
17. Lai X, Zhang H, Pouwels KB, et al. Estimating global and regional between-country inequality in routine childhood vaccine coverage in 195 countries and territories from 2019 to 2021: a longitudinal study [J/OL]. EClinicalMedicine, 2023, 60: 102042. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102042.
18. de Martel C, Georges D, Bray F, et al. Global burden of cancer attributable to infections in 2018: a worldwide incidence analysis [J/OL]. Lancet Glob Health, 2020, 8(2): e180-e190. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30488-7.
19. Nweke MC, Okolo CA, Daous Y, et al. Challenges of human papillomavirus infection and associated diseases in low-resource countries [J]. Arch Pathol Lab Med, 2018, 142(6): 696-699.
20. Bruni L, Diaz M, Barrionuevo-Rosas L, et al. Global estimates of human papillomavirus vaccination coverage by region and income level: a pooled analysis [J/OL]. Lancet Glob Health, 2016, 4(7): e453-e463. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30099-7.
21. Fink H, Langselius O, Vignat J, et al. Global and regional cancer burden attributable to modifiable risk factors to inform prevention [J]. Nat Med, 2026, 32(4): 1306-1315.
22. Fan JH, Wang JB, Jiang Y, et al. Attributable causes of liver cancer mortality and incidence in China [J]. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013, 14(12): 7251-7256.
23. Lu Y, Li P, Luo G, et al. Cancer attributable to human papillomavirus infection in China: burden and trends [J]. Cancer, 2020, 126(16): 3719-3732.
24. Chen W, Xia C, Zheng R, et al. Disparities by province, age, and sex in site-specific cancer burden attributable to 23 potentially modifiable risk factors in China: a comparative risk assessment [J/OL]. Lancet Glob Health, 2019, 7(2): e257-e269. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30488-1.
25. Wang C, Sung W, Yan P, et al. Favorable colorectal cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios in countries with high expenditures on health and development index: a study based on GLOBOCAN database [J/OL]. Medicine (Baltimore), 2021, 100(41): e27414. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000027414.
26. Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, et al. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000-14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37? 513 ?025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries [J]. Lancet, 2018, 391(10125): 1023-1075.
27. Allemani C, Weir HK, Carreira H, et al. Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25 676 887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2) [J]. Lancet, 2015, 385(9972): 977-1010.
28. Venghateri JB, Nathani P, Goyal S, et al. Low participation in cancer screening in India: a scoping review of breast and cervical cancer programs [J/OL]. BMC Cancer, 2025, 25(1): 1724. doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-14859-6.
29. Tolentino-Rodriguez L, Chkeir M, Pofagi V, et al. Breast cancer characteristics in low- and middle-income countries: an umbrella review [J/OL]. Cancer Epidemiol, 2025, 96: 102797. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2025.102797.

CHINESE JOURNAL OF BASES AND CLINICS IN GENERAL SURGERY

Latest ArticlesInterpretation and analysis of the Global Cancer Statistics Report 2024: a comparison between China and the world

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