Pooled and global burdens and trends of five common cancers attributable to diet in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019 - analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Riley

Increasing evidence links dietary behaviors with carcinogenesis and cancer progression, yet few studies quantify the global diet-related cancer burden. This analysis extracted diet-attributable cancer data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019, including deaths, age-standardized death rates, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by disease, age, sex, socio-demographic index, and location. It estimates pooled burdens and trends for colon and rectum, lung, stomach, esophageal, and breast cancers, reporting global totals and geographic variation from 1990 to 2019.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Keywords

Research paper 485 Pooled and global burdens and trends of five common cancers attributable to diet in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study Qiang Dinga, Xiaoli Maa,b, Zerui Zhanga, Panpan Lua and Mei Liua Objective Increasing evidence has shown that dietary behaviors are closely correlated with the carcinogenesis and progression of many types of cancer. However, few studies have assessed the global diet-related burden of cancer. This study aimed to estimate the pooled burdensand trends of five types of cancers attributable to dietary behaviors. Methods Data regarding cancer attributable to dietary behaviors were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019, including the death cases and agestandardized death rates, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) estimated according to diseases, age, sex, the socio-demographic index (SDI) and location. Results According to the Global Burden of Disease study 2019, five types of cancer were affected by dietary behaviors: colon and rectum cancer; tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer; stomach cancer; esophageal cancer and breast cancer. Unhealthy dietary behaviors for cancer caused a total of 605.4 thousand deaths and 13951.3 thousand DALYs globally. The burden of cancer attributable to dietary risks was higher for men than for women. The highest age-standardized death rates in 2019 were observed in southern Latin America, and the lowest rates were observed in North Africa and the Middle East. The greatest increases in the age-standardized death rates, from 1990 to 2019, were found in Western SubSaharan Africa, with the greatest decreases in Central Asia. The highest attributable proportions of death or DALYs were colon and rectum cancer. The greatest dietrelated cancer burden was observed in regions with a high-middle SDI. Conclusion Global age-standardized deaths and DALYs rates attributable to diet-related cancer are considerable and cause a substantial burden. Successful populationwide initiatives targeting unhealthy dietary behaviors would reduce this burden. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 33: 485–492 Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 2024, 33:485–492 Keywords: common cancers, diet, global burdens and trends, in the world aDepartment of Gastroenterology, Institute of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan and bDepartment of Gastroenterology, People’s Hospital of Yuan’an County, Yichang City, Hubei Province, China *Correspondence to Mei Liu, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Institute of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China Tel: +86 27 83665512; [e-mail: fliumei@126.com](e-mail: fliumei@126.com) [Received 26 November 2023 Accepted 2 March 2024](Received 26 November 2023 Accepted 2 March 2024) . Introduction Dietary behaviors are significant but under-recognized risk factors for carcinogenesis and the development of many types of cancer (Nasir et al., 2020; Maddineni et al., 2022). Multiple studies have shown that effective interventions for unhealthy dietary behavior could reduce cancer risk, cancer recurrence, and cancer-specific mortality (Karavasiloglou et al., 2022). Dietary behavior is highly modifiable and potentially preventable; therefore, improving dietary behavior could markedly alleviate the burden of cancer. Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's website ([www.eurjcancerprev.com](www.eurjcancerprev.com)). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives Li

FAQs

What was the study’s objective?

To estimate the pooled burdens and trends of five cancer types attributable to dietary behaviors at the global level.

Which data sources and indicators were used?

The study used Global Burden of Disease 2019 data, including death counts, age-standardized death rates, and DALYs, analyzed by disease, age, sex, SDI, and location.

What were the main results regarding the cancer types and global burden?

Five diet-related cancer types were identified: colon and rectum, tracheal/bronchus/lung, stomach, esophageal, and breast cancer. Unhealthy dietary behaviors were associated with 605.4 thousand deaths and 13,951.3 thousand DALYs globally, with higher burden in men than women.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Riley