Are cancer cases set to rise in Canada this year? What new projections say
Global News
As the population grows and ages, new cancer cases and deaths from the disease in Canada are increasing, the authors of the CMAJ study say.
The number of cancer cases and deaths in Canada is expected to increase this year because of a growing and aging population. But despite this trend, the overall incidence rates of people diagnosed with and dying from cancer will continue to decline, according to the latest data from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
The study, published Monday, projects there will be 247,100 new cancer diagnoses and 88,100 cancer deaths in 2024. This is up from an estimated 239,100 cancer cases and 86,700 cancer deaths in 2023.
“Cancer has a major impact on the people and the economy of Canada. These estimates highlight where progress has been made to reduce those impacts, and where more attention and resources are needed,” lead author Dr. Darren Brenner, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, said in a Monday media release.
Cancer is the number one cause of death in Canada, according to 2021 data from Statistics Canada. An estimated two in five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and about one in four will die from cancer.
The CMAJ study, a collaborative effort between the Canadian Cancer Society, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), said it aims to provide estimates for the number and rate of new cancer cases and deaths in 2024 for 23 cancer types by province or territory and sex.
To do this, it looked at national data on cancer cases between 1984 and 2019 and deaths from cancer between 1984 and 2020.
“Having an understanding of what the current burden of cancer in Canada is really important for policymakers and programs to have a better idea of how to plan and allocate resources,” explained Ioana Nicolau, senior epidemiologist of the Canadian Cancer Society surveillance team.
“It also gives us an idea of what efforts are needed to be made in terms of uptake of screening and what risk factors all of us really should be aware of,” she told Global News.
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