Photo/Illutration The Asahi Shimbun

Cancer causes an annual economic burden of 2.8597 trillion yen ($19.4 billion) on Japanese society, with “preventable” varieties of the disease accounting for 1.0240 trillion yen, or 35 percent, of the total, researchers said.

The scholars from the National Cancer Center Japan and other institutions said their study, as of 2015, shows that cancer-prevention measures “will not only be life-saving but may also be cost-saving in the long run.”

Cancer has been the leading cause of death among Japanese since 1981. Every year, 1 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and 380,000 people die from it.

The many risk factors for cancer that are considered preventable include infections, smoking and alcohol drinking.

The researchers analyzed data on about 4 million cancer-treatment patients in 2015 to estimate medical costs and productivity loss due to absence from work and deaths.

Of the preventable cancer varieties, stomach cancer accounted for the largest economic burden in both men and women, followed by lung cancer for men, and cervical cancer for women.

By risk factor, infections caused the most economic damage from preventable varieties.

Stomach cancer caused by Helicobacter pylori infection accounted for 211.0 billion yen, while cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection was responsible for 64.0 billion yen.

Lung cancer caused by active smoking created an annual economic burden of 138.6 billion yen.

“Promoting regular cancer screening and HPV vaccination, as well as campaigning against smoking, could help reduce the economic burden,” said team member Eiko Saito, a senior research fellow with the National Center for Global Health and Medicine.

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