Ferlay 2021: cancer statistics for the year 2020, an overview
IARC's overview of the 2020 world cancer estimates, about 19.3 million new cases, presented by cancer type, sex and world region, alongside the methods and data used and a note that the figures predate the effects of the pandemic.
Overview
Ferlay and colleagues presented an overview of GLOBOCAN 2020: the sources and methods for estimating incidence and mortality for 36 cancers in 185 countries and the main patterns by cancer, sex and region. They reported about 19.3 million new cases and about 10 million deaths in 2020, with female breast cancer the most commonly diagnosed cancer and lung cancer the leading cause of death, and they noted that the estimates reflect pre-pandemic trends because registry data lag by several years.
- About 19.3 million new cases and about 10 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2020.
- Female breast cancer the most diagnosed cancer; lung cancer the leading cause of cancer death.
- Estimates rest on registry data from earlier years and do not capture pandemic disruption to diagnosis.
This is the methods and overview companion to the widely cited Sung 2021 report and the reference for how the 2020 figures were built.
- Modelled estimates for countries with limited registries.
- Superseded by GLOBOCAN 2022.
Similar pages
not linked directly; found by shared links- Key paperFitzmaurice 2017: the Global Burden of Disease estimate of cancer in 2015
Shares Sung 2021: GLOBOCAN 2020, the year breast cancer overtook lung cancer as the most diagnosed cancer, Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality.
- Key paperFerlay 2019: GLOBOCAN 2018 sources and methods
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO).
- Key paperFerlay 2015: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO).
- Key paperSiegel 2012: Cancer statistics, 2012
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality.
- Key paperSiegel 2015: Cancer statistics, 2015
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality.
- Key paperSiegel 2016: Cancer statistics, 2016
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality.
- Key paperSiegel 2017: Cancer statistics, 2017
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality.
- Key paperSiegel 2018: Cancer statistics, 2018
Shares Incidence versus prevalence, Mortality.