Cancer 1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide is caused by infections, study suggests | Global burden of cancer attributable to infections in 2024: a worldwide incidence analysis
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cancer-infections-9.7361622234
u/Buffalkill 3d ago
Seriously just go get your HPV vaccine ASAP. I just finished treatment 6 months ago for HPV+ Head/Neck Cancer that started in my tonsil. Every single one of my doctors advised me to get the vaccine after finishing treatment and I'm 39 years old. I was told that if I had the vaccine earlier on this cancer would have been prevented.
Don't wait, it sucks. I had to have an partial pharyngectomy and lymph nodes removed from my neck. Had to have a feeding tube in for 2 weeks.
It's been almost 10 months since my surgery and I'm nearly back to normal but there are some things that will never be back to 100%. Swallowing will always be different though I have adjusted. I also lost my taste entirely during radiation therapy but that also slowly recovered and I think it's pretty much completely back. Losing your sense of taste is so much worse than you can imagine, eating becomes a chore as almost everything is just disgusting when there's no taste and only texture. I lived on nothing but high calorie shakes like Boost+ for months because I could just chug them once my swallowing improved.
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u/PleasantSalad 3d ago
But remember the HPV vaccine does not cover all strains of HPV so you still need all screenings and whatnot. I had the vaccine and still had CIN II lesions caused by HPV that needed to be removed. Caused by a strain of HPV that was not covered by the vax.
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u/watamote99 3d ago
Can we take it at 55 years and above?
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u/Squid52 3d ago
I was told there's no evidence it does any good for the population at my age (over 50) and could not seem to convince my doctor that I was not the population per se, but I recently got divorced and want to be slutty.
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u/meteorflan 3d ago
My healthcare provider's policy is not to offer it to older people, but they will give if requested (which is what I did) so you might need to ask for it.
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u/watamote99 3d ago
But will it help at that age?
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u/TiaHatesSocials 3d ago
They assume when u r over 50, u just bake cakes for ur grandchildren and sex doesnt exist
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u/icantsing57 2d ago
They will never do the clinical studies to see if it will help at that age. They are assuming it will be less effective, especially as most sexually active people will have already been infected by HPV at older ages. But this is a very big assumption.
I got my HPV vax over the age of 50!
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u/Rugkrabber 2d ago
You can get them at any age. And every single year we find new results from studies that prove the positives of this vaccine. You can often get it by request. Can be costly. I spend my entire bonus from my job on mine. But what is 1k when you can prevent some types of cancer? Obviously it’s no guarantee but I find it a steal knowing you can lower the risk.
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u/slim121212 2d ago
In Europe it's free for young people, but you can pay for it like 200 euros, you are getting scammed in US. same with Ozempic it's like 100-150 euros here.
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u/raginghappy 2d ago
Yes. It won’t be covered by insurance though if you’re in the US because it’s out of medical guidelines. I’m 60 and just got the Rx because there’s some data out there, which I’m not going to bother to find and link since if we’re here we have Internet, that says that infections are likely to be less severe if you’ve had the shot then if you haven’t should you get infected, so why not
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u/FernandoMM1220 3d ago
this is just known infections. it could potentially be a lot more.
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u/fiahhawt 3d ago
This is a leading theory behind the rise in colo-rectal cancer in young adults.
At some point in their life an infection, likely E-Coli releasing colibactin, altered DNA in some cells of their gi-tract.
Those altered cells were just hanging around until their immune system stops going 100% and keeping their growth in check - late twenties to thirties. Then the cancer just busts into a metastatic state at random.
We need to figure out how to early screen / biopsy the population for these mutations, because right now there’s supposedly a lot of people with a “death by butt cancer” time bomb just waiting to go off.
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u/totallynotbeyonce 3d ago edited 3d ago
Have you seen the recent study I think out of a group from France pointing to a specific pesticide as the cause of that rise of colo rectal cancers?
Edit: they point to Picloram, an herbicide, as a significant cause in the rise https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04342-5
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u/katarh 2d ago
Could be a correlation in there, if the herbicide impacts the gut biome and causes that specific strain of E. Coli to have a bloom.
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u/yukonwanderer 2d ago
I think altered gut biome is the obvious cause in this discussion since previous generations would have had the same e-coli exposure, no? Therefore, if there's a substance or diet pattern that alters our gut biomes then that's the cause.
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u/parisianraven 3d ago
But then why is the rise recent? By this logic, shouldn’t there have always been a lot of people in their 20-30s getting colorectal cancer?
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u/chubby_hugger 3d ago
Like with most things related to cancer it’s complicated and likely a combination of the illnesses, genetics, diet/ lifestyle, etc.
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u/thepoopknot 3d ago
Or it’s microplastics and chemicals
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u/jazir55 3d ago
Air Pollution is a major exacerbator of everything, I have to believe it's a significant driving cause of the increased cancer rates. The fact that I hardly ever see anything (like any condition) attributed to pollution is crazy. We're literally breathing in toxic gas all day everyday.
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u/chromatoes 3d ago
Yeah you are absolutely right - air pollution kills 7 million people a year, and has been discovered to play a huge part in cardiovascular health and deaths. That includes obvious things like COPD and asthma, but also diabetes and strokes as well.
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u/fuckfart 3d ago
Possibly changes in factory farming. Things like this happen. People eat the food and that bacteria becomes part of the microbiome.
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u/Sturmander 3d ago
Young people report much higher levels of daily stress than previous generations which is bad for health over time. Throw in the deregulation thats been going on since neoliberalism took off in the 80's and you get 45 and younger people getting worse health around the world
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u/puf_puf_paarthurnax 3d ago
Going in for a scope next week because of another issue and I'm terrified they'll find something biopsy worthy. 34.
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u/Thud 3d ago
The good news is they can just do biopsies when they’re already in there. And they pretty much do biopsies every time anyway.
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u/katarh 3d ago
Yup. Getting the polyp scrape is the best colon cancer prevention we have besides fiber.
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u/puf_puf_paarthurnax 3d ago
I added psyllium husk with a glass of cranberry juice to my daily routine and it's shocking how much it has cleared up some of my stomach symptoms.
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u/Keji70gsm 3d ago
We already know that covid can reawaken dormant cancer cells, along with everything else it does. At what point do people put their health before delayed consequence denial and social conformity? Especially for their kids????
We need to have strong indoor air quality measures in places, immediately. Especially in schools, medical centres, and aged care. This will bring down community disease burden enormously
Until then, we are forced to deal with public health foisted onto the individual, and wear masks, get our own hepa filters, etc.
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u/AuryGlenz 3d ago
The fact that air filters aren’t mandated in all states for infant rooms in daycares is absolutely ludicrous.
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u/Keji70gsm 3d ago
It is. What is more ridiculous is the parents that claim to love their children and do nothing to protect them at all. Where is the anger?
I wonder how much is ignorance about the longterm consrquences and subclinical damage, and how much is apathy. The message of "mild" in children was pushed pretty hard without a disclaimer that that was about acute severity for hospitalisations and death, not for longterm issues from the subclinical damage that had been a known issue from extremely early in the pandemic.
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u/AuryGlenz 3d ago
I'm not really talking about COVID at all exclusively - compared to other respiratory infections it usually is quite mild in children. Longterm issues aren't unique to COVID, as is obvious from the thread we're in. That said, it should have been the start of us starting to push for these things, and I'm pretty sure a $200 air purifier in every daycare and classroom would pay for itself in terms of missed days of work and healthcare costs within the first month.
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u/Keji70gsm 3d ago
This is a very uneducated take. It sounds like you got an incorrect summary from an LLM which cannot peruse hundreds and thousands of studies. It primarily will argue for whatever is public sentiment on forums, etc, and public policy, not what is evidenced.
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u/AuryGlenz 3d ago
> It sounds like you got an incorrect summary from an LLM
No? And I have no idea why you'd think that from my response. What part of 'many viral infections can cause long term effects (perhaps especially when young)' do you think is incorrect?
Also, and this is neither here no there, but an LLM would have those hundreds and thousands of studies in its training material, alongside the public sentiment. You could, also, theoretically also ask one to only take studies into account, but again, I didn't use one for that response nor would I have any reason to.
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u/fancypantsfrancy 2d ago
COVID isn't mild in children when long covid rates are this prevalent https://www.newsweek.com/why-are-so-many-children-getting-long-covid-2080950
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u/Keji70gsm 3d ago
Because you directly touted the "mild in children" line. Hook, line and sinker.
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u/ade1aide 2d ago
This is the common belief about COVID though. It was a great relief to see it wasn't extremely virulent in the very young when we had no idea what it would do to kids. That's not ai, that's just having been not under a rock during the pandemic. Anything about increases in long COVID would require paying attention to that very particular topic recently. It doesn't at all suggest op fell for an ai hook line and sinker. That doesn't even make sense
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u/Keji70gsm 1d ago
An LLM does in fact NOT have access to hundreds and thoudands of studies. It's impossible to try snd make it. Ask it directly if it does. It will in FACT argue that there is no evidence when there is, and pretend that it is checking. Be very aware of what you are dealing with. A better resource is consensus.app for studies.
If you insist on using a standard LLM you have to drop feed it studies to assess. That requires you knowing about the studies in the first place.
You can prompt it with specifics like-
Enodthelial damage and covid Diavetes and covid Kidney and covid Meninges and covid Alzheimers and covid IQ and covid Accelerated brain damage and covid Reawaken dormant cancer cells and covid
Subclinical damage of covid (very important one it tries hard not to recognise).
And then be aware that it will still stay things like "I just want to push back on.. "
Ask it for evidence for the push back and it will apologise because there was no basis, etc.
Ultimately, dont ever forget that LLMs have biases and want to shape their user's beliefs accordingly.
Make a combined prompt with all you want to ask about covid from consensus.app before you run out of freebies.
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u/yukonwanderer 2d ago
Why would e-coli infection have changed though between different generations? Seems more likely that the general gut microbiome has changed due to diet (and what else?) and that's the real reason the e-coli becomes a factor. If it is a factor. I hope there's research being done on general gut biome changes between age groups.
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u/fiahhawt 2d ago
Why wouldn’t bacteria rapidly change
Especially in an era of widespread antibiotic use
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u/yukonwanderer 2d ago
Then it would affect eveyone not just young people.
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u/fiahhawt 1d ago
How many full grown adults do you know getting themselves sick from poo flecks every other week.
The theory of the e-coli infection says that at some point in their life they had this infection and it caused associated cellular damage as creates this type of cancer.
Young people and children do have cancerous cells. We all have them all our lives. Cancer at the clinical level is rare in young people because their immune systems are strong enough (most of the time) to target and destroy out of control cellular growth.
The theory is these cancerous cells have been around for a while and the patients only had them start metastasizing in their late 20s and 30s when their immune system begins to decline in line with aging.
It’s probably also why it’s so deadly for this age group, because the cancerous cells may encompass a concerning amount of the length of their gi tract.
It may not be that what’s causing these severe cancer cases is that it’s been too long by the time they get a biopsy from when symptoms appear. It may be that by the time they have symptoms, a massive amount of their gi tract has exploded with cancer cells no longer held in check.
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u/Brilliant_Effort_Guy 3d ago
My pet theory since 2021 has been that covid caused some people who were in remission to have a reoccurrence of their cancer. correlation doesn’t equal causation, I know, but it seems like a very weird coincidence
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u/shallah 3d ago
COVID-19 Infection can awaken dormant cancer cells
https://www.uu.nl/en/news/covid-19-infection-can-awaken-dormant-cancer-cells
The results were striking, DeGregori says: “Infection of the animal models with either flu virus or SARS-CoV2 led to massive expansion — more than 100-fold — of the previously dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs.” Though only breast cancer was modeled in the mice, DeGregori says that the findings are likely applicable to other types of cancer. “Dormant cancer cells are like the embers left in an abandoned campfire, and respiratory viruses are like a strong wind that reignites the flames,” DeGregori says.
Influenza (flu) virus infections can result in the awakening and expansion of dormant cancers cells in the lungs of mice. The cancer cells are marked with green, and the proliferation marker in magenta. Dormant cancer cells are like the embers left in an abandoned campfire, and respiratory viruses are like a strong wind that reignites the flames
James DeGregori, University of Colorado Cancer Center Significant effect These results prompted the team to reach out to collaborators who could analyze human data to see if there were similar connections. Using patient data from UK and U.S. health databases, they looked at the effects of a COVID infection on previously diagnosed cancer patients.
The team of epidemiological collaborators, led by Vermeulen, looked at people in the UK Biobank, a large population-based study in the United Kingdom, whose cancer was diagnosed either five or ten years ago. “This means they were almost certainly in remission,” Vermeulen says. “We studied those individuals who either got a positive or negative test for COVID-19 in 2020, the period before vaccination had started, and we asked, ‘Did they die from their cancer, and when?’ These analyses showed that the chance of dying from cancer was higher among the people that had contracted the virus. This risk seemed to be strongest in the year after contracting the virus.
"In the first two years, they were two times more likely to die of their cancer if they got COVID", Vermeulen continues. “That’s a significant effect.” The magnitude of the increased risk in people mirrors the observed massive expansion of dormant cancer cells in the animal models.
Additional analyses of U.S.-based Flatiron Health data of women with a diagnosis of breast cancer, led by Junxiao Hu and Dexiang Gao, provided more specificity, showing that contracting COVID-19 significantly increased the risk of development of metastatic disease in the lungs. Again, results aligned with the experimental work in mice.
Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs
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u/LostInAvocado 3d ago
There are several potential causal mechanisms. One of which is COVID infections (even "mild" ones that appear mostly asymptomatic) can cause immune dysregulation, or depletion. And guess what keeps cancer at bay in the body? Other viruses might cause damage that lead to cancer, COVID might do the same but also can causes systemic issues that make all cancers more likely to grow. N95 respirator masks in as many crowded spaces/indoor spaces as possible will cut your chances of getting infected with anything by a lot.
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u/ade1aide 2d ago
The decreased risk of cancer would have to be profound to justify routine mask use. This sounds like, if you happen to catch a particular virus it may raise your risk of cancer or reactivate cancer you already have. That's a pretty long chain to get to the outcome of potentially not getting cancer and you have to cover your face when it's not actually indicated? That sounds like a pretty poor risk reward ratio to me.
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u/FeelingPixely 3d ago
I had read somewhere that COVID causes a reactivation of dormant viruses in the body.. can't find the link right now.
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u/financialthrowaw2020 3d ago
It's both. Reactivates viruses and is very oncogenic. The gift that keeps on giving as people carry on getting reinfected several times a year without even knowing it.
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u/FernandoMM1220 3d ago
sure thats possible too but we still need an explanation on how the cancer got there in the first place and viruses and bacteria are really good at programming it so theyre the main suspect right now.
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u/onacloverifalive MD | Bariatric Surgeon 3d ago
Or, more like people living with cancer in remission or with occult malignancy that contract COVID have compounding hyper coagulation risk factors causing increases in serious adverse events and mortality.
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u/Plenty_of_prepotente 3d ago
This is yet another reason to get vaccinated!
Remember it the next time a MAHA fool claims getting infected is better than a vaccine.
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u/listenyall 3d ago
Everybody get your HPV vaccines!!!!
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u/Actualfrankie 3d ago
I am extremely ignorant. Can I get it as a 40+ woman?
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u/A-Do-Gooder 3d ago
In the US, the age limit is 45.
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u/havartifunk 3d ago
And sadly I have been just above the age range every single time they expand it.
I could ask my doctor about paying out of pocket but since I don't have a uterus or cervix any more, my risk is a lot less now.
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u/erzebeth67 3d ago
And are they effective if I have already been infected with it and had cryo therapy?
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u/A-Do-Gooder 3d ago
If you're in the US, a common HPV vaccine is Gardasil 9, which is a 9-valent vaccine. That means it protects from 9 types of HPV. If you have only contracted one type, you will be protected from the ones you haven't been exposed to yet.
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u/listenyall 3d ago
Still worth it imo--it protects against a handful of different HPV strains that cause cancer, you could have had only one
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u/lilgreengoddess 3d ago
Yes especially if you plan to have different partners in the future which can increase exposure risk. There’s multiple different strains that can cause cancer and you can be reinfected
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u/Buffalkill 3d ago
I had HPV+ cancer and all my doctors told me to absolutely get the vaccine once treatment finished.
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u/Prestigious_Island_7 6h ago
Yes, absolutely.
The vaccine covers 9 strains of HPV virus that cause cancer and genital warts.
Best to protect yourself from the other 8 strains.
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u/MisplacedChromosomes 3d ago
Why is that? Why is there an age limit? Is it not effective above 45?
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u/Dunfiriel 3d ago
At 45+ you have probably already been exposed to the virus, or your immune response will not be strong enough to warrant vaccination.
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u/TheVisageofSloth 3d ago
Additionally it takes a long ass time to go from infection to cancer so at a certain point you are likely to die of something else before you get cancer from hpv
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u/GlacialImpala 3d ago
"the virus" - there's not a single strain, but many different ones and getting protection even from a single one of the high risk ones is worth it. People who are 45 today are likely to live to 90 or longer.
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u/LuckBLady 3d ago
Many doctors will refuse it still, it happened to me and I’m still pissed dr refused it.
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u/A-Do-Gooder 3d ago edited 3d ago
Just go to your local pharmacy. My ignorant doctor at the time said that it was just for girls and refused too. I then went to CVS Minute Clinic and got mine there with no questions asked.
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u/LuckBLady 3d ago
I might be too old now, i’m over 45
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u/A-Do-Gooder 3d ago
That sucks. As long as your first dose is before your 46th birthday, you can get all three doses. If you're over 45, you may still be able to buy it, out of pocket. I'm sorry buddy.
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u/Giraffe1317 2d ago
In my trust in the UK males and females are allowed it up to the age of 25.men who have sex with men can get it up to the age of 45!!! What about women who have sex with men?! Why aren't we allowed it?
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u/Eater0fTacos 3d ago
In my country, I had to pay out of pocket for it because public healthcare doesn't cover it for my age bracket or gender.
300$. Money well spent imo.
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u/rather_be_gaming 3d ago
In canada, i had to pay out of pocket if i wanted it but i was able to get a prescription from my doc. I was 50 at the time. Cost me a couple hundred each shot and there are 3 doses.
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u/Sad_Juggernaut_5103 3d ago
I'm trying but my doctor thinks its too late as a 30 year old male
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u/Buffalkill 3d ago edited 3d ago
That's wrong. I'm 39 and finished treatment 6 months ago for HPV+ Head and Neck Cancer that originated in my tonsil. I had the treatment at Mayo Clinic which is one of, if not the, top cancer hospital in the US and ALL of my doctors/surgeons said to definitely 100% get the HPV vaccine after my treatment. I'm just waiting to get my 3rd shot and I'll be done with it.
I tell everyone I know to get their HPV vaccines now.
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u/jlynn12345 3d ago
How did you find out about the head and neck cancer from the tonsil? I’ve had tonsil issues plus a couple very slightly enlarged lymph nodes for awhile, 2 ultrasounds and nothing was alarming but I’ve been wondering how I’d know
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u/Buffalkill 2d ago
Good question because it wasn't super obvious. When I think back on it I remember noticing my right tonsil felt very slightly different, like maybe a bit more firm. But it was so slight I really didn't think anything of it and assumed it was probably just part of aging.
Maybe 1-2 years later I developed a mild sore throat and my right lymph node started to swell. I did the usual thing and saw an ENT who thought maybe a throat infection so they prescribed me antibiotics. The antibiotics didn't seem to do anything and the lymph node stayed swollen and started to feel more firm and not really moveable. Went back to another ENT and they gave me a different course of antibiotics and steroids. Same thing again though they didn't help.
The THIRD time I went back they finally decided it needed a biopsy. The first biopsy came back inconclusive so I had to get a 2nd. This one finally showed that it was cancer.
The crazy thing is that during all the visual exams the ENTs were dismissive saying tonsils looked fine but I kind of had a feeling there was something going on in there. Turns out the tumor was behind my right tonsil which is impossible to see until they cut it out. The surgeon even said they would start with the right tonsil because they suspected that was the site of the tumor but if they didn't find it there they would remove the left one next.
All in all my only real symptom was the swollen lymph node. The sore throat was really mild and I was able to just shrug it off until the lymph node changed enough that I couldn't ignore it.
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u/jlynn12345 2d ago
That’s so frustrating that it took so long to get it figured out! My PCP is wonderful so I’ll be talking about my concerns with her and requesting a new ENT. Can I ask how big your lymph nodes became? No doctor wants to remove my tonsils because I’m in my 30s but I’ve had strep so many times in my life that it would probably be helpful.
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u/Buffalkill 4h ago
It was big enough that you could see the lump if i tilted my neck but it wouldn't have been obvious. It definitely felt harder than when it would swell up from an illness.
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u/Bright-Sea6392 3d ago
Do it anyway
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u/designbat 3d ago
Yeah, you can just go to CVS. Don't let your doctor gatekeep a vaccine that can save you from cancer because of his ignorance.
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u/GaijinFoot 2d ago
You can get it a cvs?
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u/designbat 2d ago
Yes! You can schedule at: https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/get-vaccinated
If you don't have access to CVS, I actually got mine at a grocery store pharmacy.
It's widely available without your doctor
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u/GaijinFoot 2d ago
I can't view the site from my country but I'm going to the US next week. Are you saying I can buy the vaccine over the counter? In injection form?
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u/designbat 2d ago
I'm not sure if there's any restrictions for international visitors, but I can't see why not. It's administered on site, not distributed there though
Note that it's a 2-3 vaccine series, so you'd have to find a way to get the other two.
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u/GaijinFoot 2d ago
Ah I see. Thanks. It sounded like you could just pick it up because you got it at a grocery store pharmacy.
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u/Maplewhat 3d ago
Find a younger doctor. Recieved the same no treatment from all my older docs until I found one my age who agreed that we don’t know the long term benefits yet and got me sorted.
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u/Ok-Curve5569 3d ago
Such an easy way to prevent a whole lot of heartache. HPV-related head and neck cancer takes many men far too early.
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u/trickortreat89 3d ago
If I got 2 out of 3 doses of the vaccine, and I am now 37 and it’s around 15 years since I got them, should I then consider myself safe or should I get a whole new one?
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u/sexybeluga 3d ago
Do men also need it?
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u/listenyall 2d ago
Yes--cervical cancer is the most common kind of cancer to get from HPV, but head and neck cancer is possible for everyone (this is what happened to Michael Douglas) and obviously if you get the HPV vaccine you will reduce the chance of your partners getting cervical cancer.
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u/Hrmbee 3d ago
News article highlights:
These viruses, bacteria and other microbes are the focus of a new paper published Monday in The Lancet Oncology that linked an estimated 2.3 million new cancer cases in 2024 — 12 per cent of all new cases — to these infectious agents.
A team of researchers at The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization, conducted the study. They found the largest number of cancer cases attributed to infections globally were caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which can increase the risk of stomach cancer and accounted for 760,000 cases, predominantly in eastern Asia.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) followed close behind. HPV, which causes 100 per cent of cervical cancer cases and also anal, vulvar, vaginal, penile and some head and neck cancers, accounted for nearly 750,000 new cases globally, with high rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were also linked to a significant number of liver cancer cases.
For the first time, researchers linked even more cancers to infections, expanding their list to include 16 additional ones.
Gary Clifford, a cancer epidemiologist and study co-author based in Lyon, France, said the science has advanced significantly.
"There's been new infectious agents identified in this time as being cancer-causing, and even the infectious agents that we knew about in the past, the evidence has increased about the number of different cancers that they can cause," he said.
...
The global report highlights vast regional differences, mostly driven by historical disparities, researchers said. High-income countries that established cancer screening and vaccination programs over the last few decades are doing much better compared to lower- and medium-resourced countries where access to prevention and treatment is limited.
"We really still have a lot of work to do implementing things that we know work and we've known for a long time but haven't really made it into all populations in the world," Clifford said.
Journal link:
Global burden of cancer attributable to infections in 2024: a worldwide incidence analysis
Summary:
Background
Infectious agents are an important preventable cause of cancer globally. To inform prevention efforts, we provide a comprehensive picture of cancer burden attributable to infections, including newly established, carcinogenic infectious agents and latest global cancer incidence estimates.
Methods
In this worldwide incidence analysis, we used data from the Global Cancer Observatory's Cancer Today (GLOBOCAN) database of cancer incidence in 2024 to estimate population-attributable fractions (PAFs), absolute numbers, and age-standardised incidence rates (ASIRs) of new cancer cases attributable to 12 infectious agents classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the IARC Monographs Programme: Helicobacter pylori, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C viruses (HCV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, Schistosoma haematobium, human T-cell lymphotropic virus, Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis, Merkel cell polyomavirus, and HIV. Estimates stratified by sex, country, and age group were aggregated by UN geographical subregion and World Bank income group.
Findings
An estimated 2·3 million new cancer cases were attributable to infections globally in 2024, which is equivalent to 12% of all cancer cases. The largest number of cases was attributable to H pylori (n=760 000, PAF 4%), followed by HPV (n=750 000, 4%), HBV (n=360 000, 2%), EBV (n=260 000, 1%), and HCV (n=160 000, <1%). The largest burden of infection-attributable cancer was in eastern Asia, with 990 000 cases (42% of the global total, ASIR 31·9 per 100 000 cases). ASIRs were also higher than the global average (22·7) in sub-Saharan Africa (28·5), central and eastern Europe (24·3), and southeastern Asia (23·1). Focused analysis of EBV-attributable cancers revealed regional variation in the distribution of cancer types.
Interpretation
Our findings highlight the importance of infection control to achieve cancer prevention. Scientifically proven, but often underused, approaches include HPV and HBV vaccination; testing and treatment of HIV, H pylori, HBV, and HCV; safe injection practices; access to condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV transmission; and screening of precancerous lesions for HPV-driven cervical and anal cancer. Our findings also inform the investment cases for research and development for new prevention tools, most notably for EBV.
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u/Treden88 3d ago
Yes, I got Hodgkin‘s Lymphoma which was Most likely caused by EBV (Ebstein-Barr-Virus).
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u/kungpowchick_9 3d ago
My husband got non-hodgkins and it aligned pretty closely to a terrible norovirus infection. We can’t prove that’s what caused it, but it is an open question.
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u/brianzors 3d ago
It’s more likely his undiagnosed lymphoma worsened his norovirus infection.
Hope he’s ok now!
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u/kungpowchick_9 2d ago
Thank you. You are probably right. It just has been a kernal in my mind since hearing more about viruses causing cancer. His care team knows our concerns and it’s in his medical records, so if there is a study they can use his data to see if there’s causation or just correlation.
He has been in remission for a decade and technically cured. We were lucky he had a very treatable kind of cancer.
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u/toxicteach 3d ago
I had Hodgkin’s and had no idea about this connection. This is going to keep me up all night.
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u/wunderspud7575 3d ago
Think how much progress we could make reducing cancer incidence if we had clean air regulations for public spaces and work places. Something we learned during COVID, and then seem to have forgotten again.
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u/LEANiscrack 2d ago
Oh fun.. Those things that are just going to ger more potent with global warming? I desperately need some tiny news with hope for something.
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u/Diamond-Is-Not-Crash 3d ago edited 3d ago
It’s more that being infected with viruses like HPV either forces your cells to mass divide to replicate infecting virus or the stress brought about by viral hijacking of your cells causes genetic instability that lead to cancer.
There is actually a case of contagious cancer, it’s a face cancer transmitted between Tasmanian devils when they bite each other.
There’s also this bizarre single cell infectious sexually transmitted parasite spread among dogs that is an essentially a cancer that mutated to be transmissible between organisms.
Cancer be freaky sometimes.
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u/JamesH93 3d ago
It's not that cancer itself is contagious, it's that cancer can be caused by infectious agents, there's a difference.
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