Thanks to our genes, the environment and our lifestyles, cancer cases have more than doubled worldwide since 1990.

And the disease, in all its forms, is on track to rise more than 60% by the year 2050.

These woeful statistics and predictions come from a study by hundreds of researchers, all part of the Global Burden of Disease Study Cancer Collaborators, who gathered data from registries, death records and interviews in 204 countries and territories.

If there is even a smidge of optimism to be gleaned from the study, it is that more than 40% of cancer deaths around the world are linked to 44 modifiable risk factors, including smoking, poor diets and high blood sugar.

So, our collective fate, as it pertains to cancer, is not inevitable.

But the researchers stressed in the study that changing the cancer forecast will require much stronger action from governments and policymakers. It will take expanded prevention efforts, earlier diagnosis and better access to effective treatments. And so far, they say, cancer prevention is not the priority it could be.

Much of cancer’s burden will fall on those in low- to middle-income countries. And much of it will be because the planet’s population is growing and rapidly aging.

The study included other notable findings: From 1990 to 2023, Lebanon had the largest increase in cancer incidence and mortality rates for both sexes, regardless of age. The United Arab Emirates saw the greatest age-adjusted decline in cancer incidence, while Kazakhstan’s cancer death rates dropped the most.

For now, not smoking, improving your diet and keeping your blood sugar in check are your best bets for avoiding a dreaded disease.