Breast cancer deaths worldwide could rise by about 68% by 2050, reaching 1.1 million a year, according to a new international report highlighting persistent inequalities in early detection, diagnosis and treatment.
The warning comes as the world observes Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, a global campaign to promote early detection, timely treatment and public awareness of the disease.
For Bangladesh, where breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women, the projection raises a pressing question: Can the country ensure timely diagnosis and treatment as the disease burden grows?
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), in its Breast Cancer Program Impact Report 2020–2025, published on Thursday, estimates that 2.43 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide in 2024, while around 694,000 died from the disease.
Population growth and ageing, combined with unequal access to cancer services, are likely to increase the burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the report warns.
Bangladesh recorded an estimated 12,989 new breast cancer cases among women in 2022, making it the most common cancer among women in the country by incidence, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer's Global Cancer Observatory.
The figure is based on the agency's GLOBOCAN 2022 estimates, not a count of cases diagnosed this year.
Bangladesh has no national figures of its own, said Professor Dr Habibullah Talukder Ruskin, chief coordinator of the Bangladesh Breast Cancer Awareness Forum, as the country has yet to establish a population-based cancer registry.
“We have a hospital-based registry, but it cannot tell us how many people are affected or how many die in a country or an area. For that, we need a population-based registry, and we have not established one yet,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Dr Ruskin attributed the rise in diagnoses to changing lifestyles.
He pointed to the consumption of junk food and obesity, which he linked to estrogen, as well as a lack of safe spaces for exercise.
Fewer women breastfeeding, later marriage and first births, and increasing tobacco and alcohol use among some women also contribute to the risk, he said.
Delays in diagnosis remain a concern
The challenge for Bangladesh is not simply identifying breast cancer but ensuring that women can move quickly from recognising symptoms to obtaining a diagnosis and starting treatment.
A 2026 study published in Health Science Reports, involving 355 women at two major cancer care facilities in Dhaka, found that 55.7% waited more than four months between recognising symptoms and starting treatment.
Researchers linked the delays to low income, limited education and barriers to accessing healthcare.
Nearly four in five participants reportedly delayed seeking medical attention because they believed their symptoms would go away on their own.
The study offers insight into the difficulties patients face, but its facility-based sample cannot be considered representative of all women in Bangladesh.
Dr Ruskin said delays in treatment largely stem from late diagnosis, with limited awareness of warning signs being a major contributing factor.
These signs include a lump in the breast or armpit, an inward-turning nipple, bloody discharge, and puckering or other changes in the skin of the breast.
In advanced stages, the cancer may cause open sores or spread to the bones, liver or brain, potentially causing bone pain or symptoms such as paralysis.
“We have not been able to tell everyone about these symptoms, and there is a lot of lack of public awareness, so many people do not notice at first,” he said.
Privacy concerns and hesitation also play a role, he added.
Many conservative and religious women feel uncomfortable discussing their symptoms and may neither tell their families nor consult a doctor.
Access to healthcare is another barrier, Dr Ruskin said, noting that the country's healthcare system remains heavily concentrated in the capital and major cities.
“People in upazilas, unions and villages, and those in char, remote and hill areas, often have to travel far to reach a hospital for diagnosis and treatment,” he said.
Late diagnosis reduces the chances of recovery and increases treatment costs, Prof Ruskin said, as advanced cases may require surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
Screening reaches millions, but gaps remain
Bangladesh already has a government programme for clinical breast examinations, alongside cervical cancer screening.
The government's National Cervical & Breast Cancer Statistics dashboard records more than 3.5 million clinical breast examinations in its case-based data system for 2019–2026. Of these, 37,795 were recorded as positive.
The figures indicate the scale of screening activity but do not show how many unique women were examined, how many underwent further diagnostic tests after a positive result or how many cancers were confirmed.
The distinction is important because an abnormal examination does not necessarily mean a woman has cancer.
Women with suspicious findings need further investigations, including imaging and tissue sampling where clinically indicated.
Prof Ruskin said district hospitals and nearly all upazilas have a VIA centre where basic examinations of the cervix and breasts can be conducted.
However, access to screening depends on women coming forward, he said, adding that services have not yet been taken to people's doorsteps.
“Even if there is a risk, women should examine their breasts themselves once a month, even without symptoms, and, if they have any suspicion, go to a doctor or a trained health worker, who can advise on ultrasound or mammography,” he said.
Dr Ruskin suggested adopting a community-based approach to screening.
“Even if it is not at village level, screening should be done at union level through camps, in the way we gave Covid-19 vaccines, motivating everyone and bringing them in,” he said.
On October 17, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said the government was taking initiatives to introduce breast cancer screening at the grassroots level.
The announcement signals an intention to widen access, but details are still needed on coverage, timelines, funding and referral arrangements.
Lessons from abroad
The UICC report documents approaches that have strengthened early detection and referral systems in other countries.
Over five years, its breast cancer programme supported 19 projects in 18 countries.
The projects enabled 117,864 women to undergo examinations, trained 3,118 healthcare professionals in early detection, and reached 632,029 people through awareness campaigns and related activities.
In Libya, a project involving five primary healthcare clinics conducted 364 clinical breast examinations in its first four months and referred 198 women for further evaluation.
Six breast cancer diagnoses were confirmed, five of them at an early stage.
In El Salvador, a patient navigation network supported 729 women in its first year and helped reduce the number of patients lost to follow-up between screening, diagnosis and treatment.
The examples suggest that awareness campaigns are most effective when linked to functioning referral systems, trained health workers and accessible diagnostic services.
However, Bangladesh cannot simply replicate these outcomes without adapting the approaches to local needs and resources.
The World Health Organization's Global Breast Cancer Initiative sets three targets: diagnosing at least 60% of invasive breast cancers at stage I or II, completing diagnostic evaluations within 60 days, and ensuring that at least 80% of patients complete recommended multimodality treatment.
Experts suggested that these targets could serve as benchmarks for assessing Bangladesh's progress.
A wider cancer challenge
GLOBOCAN estimates cited by Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain in parliament in June put the number of new cancer cases across all types at 167,256 in 2022, with 116,598 cancer-related deaths.
The government has said it is working to expand specialised cancer services beyond Dhaka, including plans to establish comprehensive cancer treatment units at eight divisional government medical college hospitals.
For breast cancer, the impact of such expansion will depend not only on treatment capacity but also on whether women can access early evaluation, obtain a confirmed diagnosis and begin treatment without prolonged delays.
The global projection does not mean Bangladesh's breast cancer deaths will rise by the same percentage. However, it underscores the need to strengthen the country's capacity to detect and treat the disease early.
Prof Ruskin said the priorities were clear: raising awareness so that women overcome shame and hesitation and consult a doctor at the first sign of symptoms, while bringing screening and diagnostic services closer to their doorsteps.