New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- An estimated 2.3 million new cancer cases globally in 2024, 12% of all cancers diagnosed that year , were linked to infections, according to a study published in The Lancet Oncology journal on Monday. The stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori was linked to 760,000 cases in 2024 (4% of all cancers diagnosed that year); the human papillomavirus (HPV) was linked to 750,000 cases (4%); the hepatitis B virus was linked to 360,000 cases (2%); the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to 260,000 cases (1%); and the hepatitis C virus to 160,000 cases (under 1%). In India, HPV was behind 100,000 of the 190,000 attributable cases in 2024. H. pylori caused 47,000 cases, followed by Epstein-Barr with 22,000 cases. And viral hepatitis B and C caused 10,000 and 5,300 cases respectively, according to the new study. Given the huge burden, Indian government earlier this year rolled out vaccine against HPV under its universal immunisation programme for its adolescent population. Infectious agents are an important preventable cause of cancer globally. The global burden of cancer is estimated to grow from 20 million new cases in 2024, to 35 million in 2050, due to population ageing alone, the researchers, said in the paper. Low-income and middle-income countries accounted for 77% of all infection-linked cancer cases, according to the study....