About 4 out of every 10 new cancer cases worldwide in 2022 were caused by things people can change, like smoking, drinking too much, being overweight, or not exercising enough.

Pro

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Global and regional cancer burden attributable to modifiable risk factors to inform prevention.

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2026 Feb 3

Contradicting (0)

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Global and regional cancer burden attributable to modifiable risk factors to inform prevention.

Score: 20

DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04219-7

Similar Assertions

This claim says that smoking causes more cancer worldwide than any other risk factor we can change, responsible for about 15 out of every 100 cancer cases. Infections come next at 10 cases, and alcohol at 3 cases.

76%