Global, regional, and national burden of female cancers in women of child-bearing age,1990-2021 - analysis of data from the global burden of disease study 2021

Sep 21, 2026

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Global, regional, and national patterns of female cancers among women of child-bearing age (15–49 years) are quantified using Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 estimates from 1990 to 2021. Incidence and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) are analyzed for four major cancers: breast, cervical, uterine, and ovarian. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) assess temporal trends by age and socio-demographic index (SDI), complemented by Spearman correlation between age-standardised rates and SDI. Results show rising incidence across cancers except cervical cancer, alongside declining DALY rates across all cancers, with substantial regional disparities and SDI-linked differences, supporting urgent prevention and healthcare strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

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Articles Global, regional, and national burden of female cancers in women of child-bearing age,1990–2021: analysis of data from the global burden of disease study 2021 Ping Sun,a,f Chang Yu,b,f Limei Yin,a,f Yan Chen,a,c Zhaochen Sun,a,c TingTing Zhang,d Ping Shuai,a Kaihong Zeng,a Xiaoqin Yao,a Jianyu Chen,e Yuping Liu,a,∗∗ and Zhengwei Wana,∗ aDepartment of Health Management Center & Institute of Health Management, Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China bPreventive Medicine Clinic, Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, China cSchool of Public Health, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China dBeijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China eSichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, China Summary Background The global status of women’s health is underestimated, particularly the burden on women of childbearing age (WCBA) . We aim to investigate the pattern and trend of female cancers among WCBA from 1990 to 2021 . Methods We retrieved data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 on the incidence and disabilityadjusted life-years (DALYs) of four major female cancers (breast, cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancer) among WCBA (15–49 years) in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021 . Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) in the age-standardised incidence and DALY rates of female cancers, by age and socio-demographic index (SDI), were calculated to quantify the temporal trends. Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between age-standardised rates and SDI. Findings In 2021, an estimated 1,013,475 new cases of overall female cancers were reported globally, with a signiﬁcant increase in age-standardised incidence rate (EAPC 0.16%), and a decrease in age-standardised DALY rate (−0.73%) from 1990 to 2021 . Annual increase trends of age-standardised incidence rate were observed in all cancers, except for that in cervical cancer. Contrary, the age-standardised DALY rate decreased in all cancers. Breast and cervical cancers were prevalent among WCBA worldwide, followed by ovarian and uterine cancers, with regional disparities in the burden of four female cancers. In addition, the age-standardised incidence rates of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers basically showed a consistent upward trend with increasing SDI, while both the agestandardised incidence and DALY rates in cervical cancer exhibited downward trends with SDI. Age-speciﬁc rates of female cancers increased with age in 2021, with the most signiﬁcant changes observed in younger age groups, except for uterine cancer. Interpretation The rising global incidence of female cancers, coupled with regional variations in DALYs, underscores the urgent need for innovative prevention and healthcare strategies to mitigate the burden among WCBA worldwide. Funding This study was supported by the Science Foundation for Young Scholars of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (NO. 2022QN44 and NO. 2022QN18); the Key R&D Projects of Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (NO. 2023YFS0196); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82303701) . Copyright © 2024 The Author(s) . Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)). Keywords: Global burden of disease study; Women of child-bearing age; Breast cancer; Cervical cancer; Ovarian cancer; Uterine cancer *Corresponding author. No. 32 West Second Section, First Ring Rd., Qingyang Dist., Chengdu, 610072, China. **Corresponding author. No. 32 West Second Section, First Ring Rd., Qingyang Dist., Chengdu 610072, China. E-mail addresses: [18715799366@163.com](18715799366@163.com) (Z

FAQs

What is the main objective of this study on female cancers in women of child-bearing age?

To investigate patterns and trends of female cancers among women of child-bearing age from 1990 to 2021, focusing on incidence and DALYs.

Which cancer types and populations are analyzed?

Four major female cancers—breast, cervical, uterine, and ovarian—are evaluated among women aged 15–49 years across 204 countries and territories.

What overall trends are reported for incidence and DALYs from 1990 to 2021?

Age-standardised incidence increased globally (with cervical cancer as an exception), while age-standardised DALY rates decreased for all four cancers.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Noah