Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women, and will continue to be so until 2050.

With 2.3 million new cases per year and 764,000 deaths worldwide, breast cancer is already the most common cancer among women. This trend is likely to continue in the coming decades, according to recent research published in The Lancet OncologyBy reviewing national registry data from 204 countries, the study assesses risk factors from 1990 to 2050. By then, the number of cases is expected to reach 3.5 million worldwide. The death rate is projected to increase by 441 per 100,000.

According to this research, not all populations are equal worldwide. It illustrates the widening gap between high- and low-income countries. Of the 2.3 million new cases diagnosed in 2023, 731 third- and third-generation breast cancers (3TBC) were diagnosed in high-income or upper-middle-income countries, such as Monaco, Andorra, France, Germany, and Ireland. Conversely, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Mozambique are among the countries where breast cancer is least diagnosed. However, it is also the poorest countries that experience the highest proportion of deaths.