Cancer in Africa 2012

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases, and especially cancers, are recognized as an
increasing problem for low- and middle income countries. Effective control programmes
require adequate information on the size, nature, and evolution of the health problem which
they pose.
Methods: We present estimates of the incidence and mortality of cancer in Africa in 2012,
derived from “Globocan 2012”, published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Results: There were 847,000 new cancer cases (6% of the world total) and 591,000 deaths (7.2%
of the world total) in the 54 countries of Africa in 2012, with about three quarters in the 47
countries of sub-Saharan Africa. While the cancer profiles often differ markedly between
regions, the most common cancers in men were prostate (16.4% of new cancers), liver (10.7%)
and Kaposi sarcoma (6.7%); in women, by far the most important are cancers of the breast
(27.6% of all cancers) and cervix uteri (20.4%).
Conclusions: These results are based on the best data currently available, and provide a
reasonable appraisal of the cancer situation in Africa. Nevertheless, there are still deficiencies in
surveillance systems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and, specifically, of their most vital
component, population based cancer registries. With the number of annual cancer cases and
deaths likely to increase by at least 70% by 2030 there is a pressing need for a coordinated
approach to improving the extent and quality of services for cancer control in Africa, and better
surveillance systems with which they can be planned and monitored.