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Smoking, being overweight, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and sunbeds are the top preventable causes of cancer, experts have warned.
Researchers from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) analysed 30 risk factors that cause cancer, such as smoking, drinking alcohol and air pollution.
Using data from across 185 countries, they estimate that about 7.1 million of the 18.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed globally in 2022 were preventable.
UK figures show some 32.6 per cent of all new cancer cases – more than 148,000 – were caused by preventable factors during the period.
open image in gallery Almost a third of new cancer cases in the UK in 2022 were preventable ( Getty/iStock )
The top cause was tobacco smoking, wh
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