One in 10 cancers linked to common infections as experts share how to reduce your risk

A study has found that more than one in 10 new cancer cases around the globe in 2024 were the result of an initial infection by bacteria or viruses.

The study, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, suggested that this means a significant proportion of the cancers diagnosed globally could be prevented by addressing the infections which cause them.

Gary Clifford is a cancer epidemiologist who co-authored the study, and suggested that targeting the root causes is already possible, and may reduce the need for more complicated and unpleasant cancer treatments.

“We have very actionable targets," he said. "We have very many tools against these viruses already.”

This could include public health measures such as vaccine programs to help protect populations against viruses, the Washington Post reports.

Such measures have already proven effective in slowing the spread of human papillomavirus, HPV, which is particularly linked to cervical cancer, as well as other forms of cancer.

“Viruses are not designed or evolved to cause cancer,” said Clifford, “but it can be a side effect.”

Public health measures could reduce the incidence of cancers (Getty Stock)

Other viruses linked to cancer include the Epstein-Barr virus, which is generally asymptomatic but can cause nasopharyngeal cancer, as well as Hepatitis B which can cause liver cancer.

There is also Helicobacter pylori, which is a kind of bacteria that can lead to stomach cancer.

Altogether, diseases were linked to approximately 2.3 million new cancer cases in 2024, which made up around 12 percent of the 20 million new cases in that year, and a similar figure to 2018.

The fact that the figure hasn't changed much in those six years was called 'alarming' by professor of epidemiology at Harvard University Lorelei Mucci, who called it a 'failure of public health'.

“We really know how to prevent a lot of these cancers from happening by preventing the infection," said Mucci.

Study co-author Harriet Rumgay, who is an epidemiologist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, highlighted that the more recent study covers a larger range of diseases linked to cancer, which may reflect in the figures.

Vaccination is one measure that could help, as it would target the root cause of the cancers (Getty Stock)

Nonetheless, she agreed that it appears to have mostly stayed similar.

There are things that you can do to mitigate your risk, and one of them is getting vaccinated.

The HPV vaccine is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 'starting the HPV vaccine series between 9 and 12 years', meanwhile the hepatitis B vaccine is recommended to be administered to all infants.

Clifford observed that the impact of vaccine programs may not yet show in the figures.

“The impact is coming,” Clifford said. “The vaccinated cohorts are already protected, but we haven’t yet seen it in the cancer rates, but we will.”

However, the emphasis in the programs is on maintaining effective public health programs, which can itself be impacted by funding cuts, as well as growing hesitancy around vaccines.

Donald Trump's second administration ahas involved buts to foreign aid, including global health initiatives which could support vaccine programs.

Meanwhile, a move by US federal officials to bring an end to hepatitis B birth-dose was suspended by a federal judge in March.