Healthspan, Lifespan, and Cancer: Cancer in an ageing population
Healthspan, Lifespan, and Cancer: Cancer in an ageing population A Think Piece for World Cancer Day 2026 Dr Esra Hassan We are living longer than ever before. Across much of the world, reaching our 80s and 90s is becoming the norm. But longevity comes with a reality we rarely discuss openly: cancer is increasingly becoming a disease of longevity. The longer we live, the greater the chance that changes accumulate within our cells that may eventually lead to cancer. A century ago, infectious diseases dominated mortality statistics. Today, in many countries, cancer is at the forefront. This shift is not accidental. As we prevent deaths from other causes, cancer becomes more visible. We are now surviving long enough to encounter diseases that were once less common simply because people did not live to the ages where cancer risk peaks. In many ways, the better we become at preventing deaths from other causes, the more cancer we will see. On World Cancer Day, this raises an imp...