Why more women get cancer in India - but more men die

Women account for just over half of all new cases, but men make up the majority of deaths.

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The paradox, revealed in a study of the country's latest cancer registry, tells a story at once simple and confounding.

Women account for just over half of all new cases, but men make up the majority of deaths.

India appears to be an outlier. In 2022, for every 100,000 people worldwide, on average about 197 were diagnosed with cancer that year. Men fared worse, at 212, compared to 186 for women, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.

Nearly 20 million cancer cases were diagnosed globally in 2022 - about 10.3 million in men and 9.7 million in women. In the US, the estimated lifetime risk of cancer is nearly equal for men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.