Leading oncology experts are warning that surging cancer deaths are going to continue rising over the next few years.
Cancer cases in men are predicted to rise by 84 percent by 2050, a new study has revealed.
Deaths from the disease are also expected to almost double in the next 25 years from today, despite surging dramatically in recent years already.
During a study using official data from 185 nations, scientists concluded that the global burden of cancer in younger men is only going to get worse.
An estimated 19 million cancer cases are predicted to be diagnosed in 2050 if current trends continue.
The figure is a staggering increase from the 10 million recorded in 2022.
Cancer deaths are predicted to soar even higher, going from 5 million in 2022 to over 10 million by 2050, a rise of 93 percent.
Researchers note that cancer deaths had already carried to unprecedented levels in 2022 following a spike that began in 2021, shortly after Covid mRNA shots were rolled out for public use.
The study asserts that older men are predicted to account for the majority of fatalities in a pattern linked to the aging population.
However, experts also predict a concerning spike in young men being killed by the disease in the years to come.
The study was led by scientists at The University of Queensland in Australia.
The scientists said men face both higher rates of cancer and deaths from the disease, and warned if the reasons why aren’t addressed the problem will only get worse.
By cancer type non-melanoma skin cancer is predicted to have the biggest global case rise, with diagnoses increasing by almost 122 percent to over a million cases globally.
Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs most famously linked to asbestos exposure, and bladder cancer are also predicted to see increases of over 100 percent in men.
For deaths, prostate cancer is predicted to account for the biggest growth with global fatalities from the disease by 136 percent to almost one million by 2050.
Similar explosive growth is also predicted for bladder cancer deaths as well as those from non-melanoma skin cancer.
However, lung cancer will still account for the greatest total death toll in the decades to come with over 2 million deaths globally by 2050.
This is up almost 95 percent on today’s figures.
While cancer deaths were predicted to increase by a large amount among men aged 65 and over, rising by over 124 percent in 2050, younger men also faced a worrying increase in the disease.
Experts calculated the number of cancer deaths among younger men, aged 15-to-64, is set to increase by almost 40 percent to almost 3 million deaths in 2050.
Multiple studies have previously raised the alarm about a mysterious “epidemic” in cancer cases among the under 50s.
Figures for Europe and America have shown massive increases in cancers in young men.
Publishing their findings in the journal Cancer, the authors said men around the world face higher rates of cancer and cancer deaths than women.
Lead author of the latest study, Dr. Habtamu Mellie Bizuayehu, said their findings show the need to implement measures now to reduce the number of men getting and dying from cancer in the decades to come.
“A national and international collaboration, as well as a coordinated multisectoral approach, are essential to improve current cancer outcomes and to reverse the anticipated rise in cancer burden by 2050,” he said.
“Implementing and expanding universal health coverage and expanding health infrastructure and establishing publicly funded medical schools and scholarships for training medical and public health staff can improve cancer care and equity.”
Data in the study, divided by World Health Organization (WHO) regions, shows that in Europe, cancer cases in men are predicted to grow 40 percent to almost 4 million per year by 2050.
Annual deaths from the disease in this region are also estimated to rise by 50 percent to almost 2 million in this period.
Data for the Americas shows cases in this WHO region will rise by 79 percent to 4 million cases, and deaths up almost 90 percent to over 1 million.
Researchers also highlighted how the burden of male cancers is going to hit some areas of the world harder than others.
For example, in the WHO Africa region cancer cases and deaths among men are predicted to rise by over 150 percent.
Dr. Bizuayehu said this showed the importance of improving cancer outcomes in poorer nations.
“Emphasis should be placed on low and medium human development index countries with high unmet cancer service needs despite a significant cancer burden,” he said.
The authors noted their study may have been impacted by the varying data quality issues for cancer diagnosis and deaths in different countries
The WHO data, on which the new male cancer analysis is based, was also used earlier this year to show cancer deaths in the UK are set to soar by more than 50 percent by 2050.
However, the rate of increase, and the fact that so far scientists have been unable to pin the cause, is worrying experts.
Oncologist Dr. Shivan Sivakumar, from the University of Birmingham, previously described the situation as an “epidemic.”
“There is an epidemic currently of young people (under 50) getting cancer,” he said.
“It is unknown the cause of this, but we are seeing more patients getting abdominal cancers.”
When the disease strikes people under the age of 50, it is known medically as “early-onset” cancer.
A study published in the British Medical Journal last year found cases of early-onset cancer increased overall globally by 79 percent in recent years.
The experts also predicted cases of cancer in the young are set to rise further, by an additional 31 percent by 2030.
WHO data shows Australia had the highest number of early-onset cancer diagnoses in the world, with a rate of 135 per 100,000 people in 2022.
New Zealand came second, with 119 cases in per 100,000 people among the young.
