# Jemal 2011: Global cancer statistics (GLOBOCAN 2008)

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jemal-global-cancer-statistics-2011-cacancer/  
OnCo record `paper-jemal-global-cancer-statistics-2011-cacancer` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The world cancer count for 2008: about 12.7 million new cases, with more than half of cases and almost two thirds of deaths already occurring in the economically developing world, breast cancer the most common cancer in women and lung cancer in men.

## Summary

Jemal, Bray and colleagues summarised the GLOBOCAN 2008 estimates for the American Cancer Society. They reported about 12.7 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths in 2008, of which 56% of cases and 64% of deaths occurred in the economically developing world. Breast cancer was the most frequently diagnosed cancer and leading cause of cancer death in women; lung cancer held both positions in men. The paper stressed that the burden was shifting to lower-income countries and that much of it was preventable through tobacco control, vaccination and early detection.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Journal: CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
- Year: 2011
- DOI: 10.3322/caac.20107
- Authors: Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D.
- Findings: About 12.7 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2008.; 56% of cases and 64% of deaths in the economically developing world.; Breast cancer the leading cancer in women and lung cancer in men, for both incidence and death.
- What it means: For years the most cited paper in oncology, it fixed the picture of cancer as a growing problem of developing countries and is the baseline against which the 2012, 2018, 2020 and 2022 GLOBOCAN releases show the burden rising.
- Caveats: Estimates for many countries were modelled from sparse registry data.; Superseded by later GLOBOCAN releases.

## Sources

- Full text (DOI): https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.20107
- IARC Global Cancer Observatory: https://gco.iarc.who.int/today

## Connected records

- key papers: [Parkin 2005: Global cancer statistics, 2002](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-parkin-global-cancer-statistics-2002-cacancer-2005/), [Torre 2015: Global cancer statistics, 2012](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-torre-global-cancer-statistics-2012-cacancer-2015/)
- cancers: [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- institutions: [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/)
- terms: [Incidence versus prevalence](https://onco.cc/terms/incidence-vs-prevalence/), [Mortality](https://onco.cc/terms/mortality/)
- people: [Freddie Bray](https://onco.cc/people/bray-freddie/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/paper-jemal-global-cancer-statistics-2011-cacancer.json