Reacción a "Reactions: cancer deaths will decrease this year in Europe, but lung cancer deaths in women will rise in Spain"

This is a good quality study. It is based on population data obtained - segregated by age range - from information on deaths stored at the World Health Organization by epidemiologists and oncologists from Italian, American and Swiss institutions. 

It reflects previous trends already collected in previous years. I believe that what is important is what it emphasizes: the importance of certain social habits in the incidence of some types of cancer, such as smoking or poor eating habits and the lack of physical exercise that lead to obesity. And, in the case of Spain, this message is clear: it is one of the few countries where it is predicted that deaths from lung cancer will increase in women in age groups that are consistent with the frequency of women smokers. This, perhaps, is the main message: there are many causes of cancer that we cannot avoid, since they arise from genetic errors in our cells that are generally associated with age, but there are many others that are avoidable, such as smoking. The campaigns being carried out by scientific oncological and patient associations on the importance of increasing restrictions on tobacco use are relevant here; only in this way will we be able to significantly lower the rates of occurrence of some cancers.  

But there is also a positive message, which has already been seen in recent years: despite higher rates of aging, global cancer deaths continue to decline. This is probably influenced by factors such as improved diagnosis times and the increase in the arsenal of antitumor drugs that have been developed over the last few decades. This aspect is not trivial; it implies that a large number of deaths have been avoided thanks to these improvements. And it also suggests that, if this global trend continues, it is foreseeable that we will indeed achieve the medium-term goal of reducing cancer deaths in the European Union by more than 35%.  

In the end, the message of the article is clear: if you want to avoid certain types of cancer, don't smoke, drink less alcohol and avoid obesity. 

There is one factor here that remains to be assessed, as the authors of the study rightly point out: the influence of the coronavirus pandemic that led to significant delays in the screening, diagnosis and care of new cancer patients. This may be a factor that could tip the balance towards more negative percentages in the short term.