Cancer is a leading cause of Life & Health (L&H) insurance claims and a major driver of global mortality and morbidity. However, cancer risk patterns are evolving.
Ageing societies, demographic change, earlier diagnosis, adverse lifestyle trends and rapid medical innovation are all reshaping who develops cancer, when it occurs, and how long people live with it.
For insurers, this matters. Shifts in age at diagnosis, a growing population living with and beyond cancer and changing severity profiles are reshaping long-held insurance assumptions. Understanding these dynamics is essential to maintaining sustainable L&H portfolios across underwriting, pricing, claims and product design.
An ageing world and a growing cancer burden
Cancer remains strongly linked to age. As populations age, the number of cancer cases is expected to rise, even if underlying lifestyle risks do not worsen. By 2040, the majority of new cancer diagnoses and deaths will occur in people aged 60 and above. Meanwhile, advancements in early detection and improved treatments are creating a rapidly growing population living with and beyond cancer.
This increasing survivorship is redefining cancer: longer-term health impacts, ongoing monitoring needs and elevated risks of recurrence or secondary disease are all new features.
Early-onset cancer: a structural shift, not a blip
One of the most disruptive trends is the rise of early-onset cancers – cancers traditionally seen later in life that are now occurring before age 50. Rates are climbing across many countries and cancer types. While improved awareness and screening explain part of this rise, there are other, broader structural drivers. Growing evidence implicates metabolic ill-health factors such as obesity and poor diet, as well as earlier life environmental exposures as being among the contributing factors.
Mortality among younger patients has declined thanks to earlier diagnosis and better treatment, but this comes with a trade-off: more working-age cancer survivors living with long-term health consequences. For insurers, this extends cancer-related risk over decades rather than years.
Implications for Life & Health insurers
Globally, cancer incidence is redistributing. While high-income regions still show the highest recorded incidence, mostly due to strong healthcare systems, rapid increases are occurring in emerging markets as lifestyles change and detection improve.
A small group of ten cancers, including lung, breast and colorectal, continues to account for around two-thirds of global cases and deaths. Over time, this balance is expected to change.
For insurers, these shifts challenge long-standing assumptions. Improvements in cancer survival and early mortality may not persist if adverse lifestyle and metabolic trends continue.
Traditional assumptions may need to adapt to the changing landscape. The industry will need more dynamic risk frameworks, smarter product design, and greater flexibility in a world where cancer will be seen as a longer-term and managed condition.
