Warmer climate could be making cancer among women more common

Global warming could be making cancer in women more common and deadly, according to a study conducted in the Middle East and North Africa.

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The region is predicted to reach three to four degrees Celsius of warming about three decades earlier than the rest of the world.

Summers in Middle Eastern nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, are characterised by extremely high temperatures - sometimes touching 50 degrees Celsius—while North Africa sees temperatures in the range of 40-50 degrees Celsius.

Analysing prevalence and deaths due to cancer with temperatures between 1998 and 2019, researchers, including those from The American University in Cairo, Egypt, found a “small, but statistically significant” rise in prevalence and death rates of breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers.

For an increase in temperature by a degree Celsius, prevalence of the cancers was found to rise by 173-280 cases per one lakh people—cases of ovarian cancer rose the most, and those of breast cancer the least.

Death rates increased by 171-332 per one lakh people for each degree of temperature rise, with the biggest rise in ovarian cancer cases and the smallest in cervical cancer.

Findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, suggest that an increased ambient temperature is probably a risk factor for breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers.

“As temperatures rise, cancer mortality among women also rises—particularly for ovarian and breast cancers,” first author Wafa Abuelkheir Mataria of The American University in Cairo, said.

“Although the increases per degree of temperature rise are modest, their cumulative public health impact is substantial,” Mataria said.

Studies have shown that conditions driven by climate change - rising temperatures, compromised food and water security, and poor air quality - increase the risk of disease and death worldwide.

In the context of cancer, people are potentially exposed more to risk factors like environmental toxins and are less likely to receive a prompt diagnosis and treatment—and women are especially physiologically vulnerable, the researchers said.

The health risks are “compounded by inequalities that limit access to healthcare. Marginalised women face a multiplied risk because they are more exposed to environmental hazards and less able to access early screening and treatment services,” co-author Sungsoo Chun, of The American University in Cairo, said.

The researchers added that the higher number of cancer cases observed in the study could also reflect improvements in cancer screening.

However, an improved screening would be expected to result in fewer deaths, as early-stage cancer is easier to treat, they said.

But both death rates and prevalence rose, suggesting that the driving factor is exposure to risk factors, the team said.

“Our analysis indicates a significant correlation between prolonged exposure to high ambient temperatures and all four cancer types studied. Notably, the prevalence of breast, ovarian, and cervical cancers is markedly influenced by temperature increases,” the authors wrote.