Cancer expected to kill 18,000 Swiss this year

Lung cancer will likely kill 3,500 people in Switzerland in 2018. KEYSTONE/DPA/Felix Hörhager

More than 56,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Switzerland in 2018, says a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday. 

Over 18,000 deaths are expected, and nearly 10,300 of the victims will be men, according to data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which reports to the Geneva-based WHOExternal link. One in ten men and one in 7.4 women are likely to die of cancer before age 75.

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Nonmelanoma skin cancer accounts for nearly one in five cases. Lung cancer, the most deadly, is expected to kill 3,500 people this year. The Swiss population is about 8.5 million.

More than 30,000 men and 26,000 women will be diagnosed with cancer by the end of this year. One in three men and over 25% of women are likely to be affected before turning 75. Nearly 103,000 men and more than 98,000 women living in Switzerland were diagnosed within the past five years. 

Cancer in other countries

The WHO report covers 185 countries. Worldwide, the number of cancer cases is expected to increase by 61% in 20 years – to nearly 30 million new cases and over 16 million deaths. 

Nearly half of the cancer cases are observed in Asia. Europe, home to 9% of the world’s population, accounts for almost a quarter of cases and more than 20% of deaths. The American continent follows with 21% of cases and a little less than 15% of mortality. In Asia and Africa, the share of deaths compared to the global total is greater than that of cases, due to limited access to diagnoses and care. 

In the WHO’s 2018 European Health Report, also released this week, Switzerland and Luxembourg tied for first place as the countries with the longest life expectancy: 83 years old.