The number of patients in 2026we are sick

According to the SEOM report, the most diagnosed tumors in Spain in 2026 will be colon cancer, along with breast, lung, bladder and prostate cancer.

The number of cancers detected in our country in 2026 will reach 301,884 cases, a slight increase compared to 2025 with 296,103 cases, prepared by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and the Spanish Network of Registries (REDECAN) and presented tomorrow on the occasion of World Cancer Day.The report also revealed that the incidence of cancer is expected to increase worldwide.Therefore, in 2050, the incidence is estimated to exceed 350,000 in Spain.

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Fifty years ago, the diagnosis of cancer had, in most cases, a limited prognosis and today, thanks to research, millions of people live longer and better after being diagnosed with cancer."The progress achieved means that the limited prognosis that most cancer patients had five decades ago has been restored and, now, they have a long survival and quality of life," explained SEOM president Dr. Javier de Castro, who pointed out that "the goal now is not only to live longer, but better, with less toxicity, more attention to the effects of premature survival and more support forcancer premature survival effects and more support for premature cancer survival effects".

To this end, with the release of Spanish cancer statistics for 2026, SEOM launches a campaign to change the meaning of cancer over 50 years on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, launching a video that shows, through patient testimonials, how research can improve the survival and quality of life of cancer patients.

cancer incidence rate

The cancer figures in Spain 2026 report provides the latest available data from both REDECAN for incidence, prevalence and survival in Spain and the National Institute of Statistics (INE) for mortality in Spain and the Global Cancer Observatory of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) for various indicators worldwide.

The most diagnosed cancers in Spain in 2026, according to the report, will be colon and rectum (44,132 new cases), breast (38,318), lung (34,908), prostate (34,833) and bladder (23,929).Not far behind are non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (12,201), pancreatic cancer (10,405), kidney cancer (9,165), malignant melanoma of the skin (8,074), oral rectal and throat cancer (8,203), and uterine body cancer (79,79,79) and stomach cancer (79,79).

By gender, in men, as in 2025, prostate (34,833), colon and rectum (26,477), lung (23,079) and bladder (19,496) will be the majority.And, in women, breast (38,318) and colon and rectum (17,655).In this last category, lung cancer (11,829) remains the third highest cancer incidence as of 2019 due to the increase in tobacco consumption since the 70s.

In recent decades, the absolute number of cancers diagnosed in Spain has increased for several reasons: population growth (in 1990 the population of Spain was about 3,885,000 and in 2026 it will be approximately 5,000,000). Population aging (age is a major risk factor for the development of cancer).exposure to risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, pollution, obesity, or a sedentary lifestyle;and early detection of certain types of cancer such as colon and breast, cervical or prostate cancer.

In addition, there is a clear decline in the incidence of lung and bladder cancer in men due to a reduction in smoking, and in women, the incidence of lung cancer in 2026 is 2.37 times higher than in 2007.

However, according to the INE, 13.3% of women and 20.2% of men will still smoke daily in 2023.For this reason, the incidence of smoking-related cancers remains much higher in men, along with the delay in the onset of smoking and cancer.However, the incidence of these cancers in women is likely to increase in the coming years.

In recent years, there has been a small but consistent decrease in the incidence of cancer in women and a decrease in the incidence of pancreatic, thyroid, and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in both sexes.

Worldwide, the prevalence of cancer five years after diagnosis is estimated at more than 49 million, with the most common cancers being breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate, lung, and thyroid cancers.In 2020, the most common cancers in men in Spain were prostate (259,788), bladder (149,795) and colon (126,241), while in women they were breast (516,827), colon (100,933) and uterine (83,099).

"In recent years, the increase in cancer incidence in young people has become a cause for concern. In this population, colon, breast, pancreatic, gastric, testicular or endometrial tumors are increasing the most, linked to possible risk factors such as inadequate diet, microbiome dysfunction, obesity or excessive use of antibiotics. In Spain, in young people, approximately3,400 in men and about 4,800 in women, breast cancer accounts for 20.5% of cases and thyroid cancer accounts for 20.5% of cases 13.4%,” explains Dr. Jaume Galceran, REDECAN 2018-2025 president.

cancer risk factors

Tobacco, alcohol, and pain continue to be some of the most preventable risk factors associated with cancer.According to data published by the WHO in its 2014 World Cancer Report, approximately 1/3 of cancer deaths are due to tobacco, infection, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle and insufficient diet (sufficient supply of fruits and vegetables).

When lung cancer becomes the leading cause of cancer death in women for the first time in 2026, we need to focus on the risks associated with smoking.Smoking is the single risk factor responsible for the largest number of cancers, accounting for approximately 90% of lung cancer cases, and is a major cause of many other cancers including head and neck, bladder, kidney, esophagus, pancreas, stomach, colon, and rectum.Nevertheless, according to INE, approximately 20% of the Spanish population smokes daily, according to data collected in the Integrated Plan for the Prevention and Control of Tobacco 2024-2027.According to the ESTUDES 2023 survey, the use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices is a concern, especially among the younger population, which has seen a significant increase since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In relation to lung cancer, there are other risk factors such as exposure to radon in the home, the main cause of lung cancer in people who have never smoked and the second risk in patients who smoke.The concentration of radon in Spain is different, with the highest level in Galicia, followed by Extremadura and Madrid.It is estimated that up to 3.8% of lung cancer deaths in Spain can be caused by exposure to radon, reaching 7% in private communities with the highest levels.

Regarding alcohol, it is a risk factor for various cancers, such as esophagus, colon and rectum, liver, breast and oral cavity cancer, etc. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption, because the risk of cancer increases even with low consumption, and it is also important to take into account its synergistic effect, which occurs with certain risks that increase the risk of tumors.

Obesity is the second risk factor responsible for most cancers in the United States, and is associated with at least nine types of cancer, such as breast, endometrial, colon, kidney, pancreas and pancreas, among others.Although the obesity figures in Spain are far from those of the United States, in 2022 obesity affected 13.7% of adults and obesity 33.6%.The rise in childhood obesity is alarming.especially, because overweight and obesity in children is around 30%.In addition, according to INE, the consumption of fruits and vegetables has decreased in our country since 2017.

On the other hand, there are up to ten diseases classified by IARC as carcinogens, with the greatest impact in countries where they are responsible for 25% of tumors.

Regarding physical activity, which is the main pillar of good health, it is estimated that it can reduce the risk of breast, colon, bladder, endometrial, esophagus and stomach cancer by 30%, and reduce the risk of certain diseases caused by cancer by about 20%.In addition, physical activity has been shown to improve quality of life and reduce the side effects of oncological treatment.

Cancer survival

According to REDECAN data, in 2013-2017In Spain, the five-year net survival rate for diagnosed patients was 57.4% for men and 65.2% for women.This difference is probably due to the fact that certain tumors are more common in one sex than the other, as the most important differences in survival are due to the type of tumor (along with the stage at diagnosis).

Therefore, in men, the net survival by age is 94.4% for testicular cancer, 90.2% for prostate cancer and 88.1% for thyroid cancer, while it is 10.3% for pancreatic cancer, 14.4% for esophageal cancer, 16.3% for lung cancer and 20.3% for liver cancer.For women, thyroid cancer has a net survival of 93.9%, skin cancer 91.2%, breast cancer 86%, prostate cancer 12.1%, esophageal cancer 17.5%, liver cancer 18.9% and lung cancer 23.5%.

Five-year survival for men with cancer increased from 56.1% to 57.4% between 2008-2012 and 2013-2017, an increase of 1.3 percentage points.Among women, survival between the two periods rose from 62.6% to 65.2%, an increase of 2.6 percentage points.

“The survival rate of cancer patients in Spain is similar to that in neighboring countries,” said the SEOM president. It is estimated to have doubled over the past 40 years, although slowly in the coming years thanks to the use of new treatments and increased screening, for example in recent years for colorectal cancer.

Global cancer mortality, like incidence, is expected to increase in the coming years, with the number of deaths likely to exceed 18.3 million by 2050. In Spain in particular, this figure is expected to increase from 115,000 in 2022 to more than 180,000 in 2050.

The cancers responsible for the largest number of deaths worldwide were lung (18.8% of all cancer deaths), colorectal (9.3%), liver (7.8%), breast (6.9%) and stomach (6.8%).In Spain, INE published mortality data for the year 2024 with 436,118 deaths, data similar to the previous year.For the first time, tumors are the main cause of death in Spain, with 115,578 deaths, ahead of diseases of the circulatory system, with 113,620 deaths.The trend observed in recent years is confirmed by the progressive increase in the number of deaths from cancer, which doubled since 1980, and the gradual decrease in deaths from diseases of the circulatory system.

Cancer remains the leading cause of death among Spanish men in 2024 (67,790), ahead of cardiovascular diseases (54,257) and respiratory diseases (26,760).However, among women, cardiovascular disease (59,363) remains the leading cause of death, followed by tumors (47,788) and respiratory disease (23,372).

Among the deaths caused by tumors in Spain in 2024, as in previous years, the most common causes are lung, colon, pancreatic, breast and ovarian cancer.For Spanish men, lung cancer was again the leading cause of death in 2024, followed by prostate, colon, pancreatic, liver and bile duct and bladder cancers.In women, lung cancer overtakes breast cancer as the leading cause of death for the first time, followed by colon and rectal cancer.

Cancer mortality in Spain has fallen sharply in recent decades, although this does not apply to all tumors or gender, with lung cancer being the most serious, with a significant increase in female mortality in recent decades due to the recent inclusion of women in smoking.On the contrary, the downward trend continues for men due to the decrease in tobacco consumption.Pancreatic cancer deaths have increased in both men and women due to the increase in incidence, while stomach cancer mortality in Spain has decreased very significantly in recent decades.

These trends reflect improvements in the survival of cancer patients due to the effect of preventive activities, campaigns for early diagnosis, therapeutic advances, and, in men, the decrease in the prevalence of smoking.