The descriptive epidemiology of lung cancer and tobacco control: a global overview 2018

To present the most recent national estimates of lung cancer burden globally in 185 countries and tobacco smoking prevalence (%) by sex.

Estimates of lung cancer incidence and mortality for 2018 were extracted from the Globocan database; observed incidence, from the last volume of Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, and tobacco prevalence, from the World Health Observatory/WHO database.

In 2018, over two million new lung cancer cases and 1.7 million deaths were estimated to occur worldwide, representing 14% of the new cancer cases and 20% of the cancer deaths. Incidence rates showed marked variation between countries. Stable or decreasing incidence rates were predominant among males, while among females increasing rates were common.

The continuing rise in lung cancer among women reinforces the need for strengthening implementation of the preventive actions committed to by governments in the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control.