Estimated number of new cancer cases attributable to infection in the Netherlands in 2003.

Several infectious diseases are considered to play a causal role in cancer aetiology. It is estimated that in 2003 in the Netherlands at maximum 2553 new cancer cases (3.5% of all new cancer cases) were attributable to infection. This is considerably lower than globally (17.8%) and in developed countries in general (7.7%), as previously estimated by Parkin. Most likely the explanation is that the prevalence of infections in the Netherlands is lower. Infectious agents that cause the highest number of cancer cases in the Netherlands, as well as globally, are Helicobacter pylori (stomach cancer) and the human papilloma virus (mainly cervical cancer).