The number of cancer cases in the Middle East is slated for a 1.8-fold increase by 2030. While the top 15 cancers diagnosed in Arab countries mirrored global trends, their distribution and contribution to mortality differed.
In 2022, breast cancer had the highest rate of incidence among all cancer types in the Middle East and North Africa, at 49 new cases per 100,000 people. Trachea, bronchus and lung cancer had the second highest rate in the region, with 72,000 people dying from them in the same year. This was by far the largest number of deaths caused by any other type of cancer in the region. Liver, intrahepatic bile ducts, and breast cancer had the second highest death count during the same period. However, breast cancer had the highest rate of cancer-related deaths in the Middle East and North Africa, at 16.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
These stark figures show the huge need to improve medical care in the region, including better cancer treatment, to reduce the high mortality-to-incidence ratio. More and better vaccination programmes and antiviral treatments could help prevent viral infection-related cancers. Meanwhile, the prevalence of cancer in younger Arabs suggests genetic factors, which underscores the need for more genetic epidemiology studies.
