The essential role of prevention in reducing the cancer burden in Europe: a commentary from Cancer Prevention Europe.

[First paragraph] The potential of cancer prevention In 28 out of 40 United Nations–defined European countries, cancer is now the leading cause of premature death, and the second most common in the other 12, with a total of 1.93 million deaths and 3.91 million new incident cases in 2018.1 Those numbers are projected to rise to 2.55 million deaths and 4.75 million incident cases in Europe by 2040, as a result of population aging and growth, representing an overall increase in number of deaths by 32%.2 Notably, however, these estimates are based on prediction models taking current incidence rates and time trends into consideration, so that preventive actions taken today could change this forecast, i.e., lead to lower than those expected numbers. The cancer cost in 27 countries in the European Union in 2009 was €126 billion, 60% incurred in nonhealthcare areas, with almost €43 billion in lost productivity due to early death. Of the 4 cancers studied, lung cancer had the highest economic burden.3