# Three Main Causes of All Cancer Cases Identified

Almost four out of ten cases of cancer on the planet are not a verdict of fate or a genetic lottery, but the result of exposure to factors that humanity has the power to control. Eliminating key threats such as tobacco smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and specific infections can dramatically change global mortality statistics.

This encouraging and simultaneously alarming conclusion was reached by leading experts of the World Health Organization, and the research results were published in the journal Nature Medicine. (WHO).

According to an analysis conducted by an international team of scientists, including specialists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under WHO, 38% of all new diagnoses made in 2022 have preventable causes at their root. In absolute numbers, this is a colossal figure - approximately 7.1 million people who could have remained healthy. The researchers assessed the impact of 30 different risk factors, and these statistics compel a reconsideration of approaches to prevention.

The undisputed "leader" in this sad ranking remains tobacco. Despite decades of fighting smoking, it is precisely this harmful habit that caused 15% of all new cancer cases worldwide. In second place are infectious agents that provoke cell mutations (10%), and closing out the top three is alcohol (3%), whose toxicity to the body is often underestimated by society. The list of significant threats also includes the scourge of modern society - obesity and physical inactivity, as well as ultraviolet exposure and occupational hazards such as contact with asbestos.

Nearly half of all preventable cases involved lung, stomach, and cervical cancer. While lung tumors are predictably linked to smoking and environmental factors, stomach cancer is often triggered by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. In the case of cervical cancer, the main culprit is the human papillomavirus (HPV), which modern medicine can defeat with effective vaccines.

The analysis also revealed a significant gender gap that sociologists attribute to behavioral patterns. Among men, the proportion of preventable cancer cases reached 45%, while for women this indicator was 30%. The reason lies in historically established habits: almost a quarter of cancer cases in men were directly linked to tobacco smoking, whereas for women this factor caused disease in only 11% of cases.

The authors of the scientific work emphasize: the obtained data point to enormous but still unrealized potential for prevention. In their opinion, reducing cancer incidence is a matter of state will. Strict anti-tobacco and anti-alcohol policies, mass vaccination against HPV, and active promotion of physical culture can save millions of lives in the coming decade.