About 1 in 4 cancers in developing countries is caused by infection

Source: Cancer Atlas, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mackay J, Jemal A, Lee NC, Parkin DM.

In 2002 about 1.9 million cases of cancer, 17.8 per cent of the global total, were caused by infection. Helicobactor pylori is responsible for 63 per cent of stomach cancer worldwide and increases risk by between five and six fold. The prevalence of Helicobactor pylori infection is at least 75 per cent in some parts of Africa, eastern Europe, south central and south-eastern Asia. All cervical cancers result from infection by Human papillomavirus (HPV). Hepatitis viruses B and C (HBV and HCV) increase the risk of liver cancer by at least 20 fold; together these two viruses are responsible for 85 per cent of liver cancer globally.

It is estimated that there would be about 26 per cent fewer cases of cancer in developing countries and about 8 per cent fewer cases of cancer in developed countries if infections by these agents could be prevented.

For more details on infection as a cause of cancer, please see the Expert Report from UICC Protection against cancer-causing infection.