Temporal patterns of cancer burden in Asia, 1990–2019 - a systematic examination for the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick

Cancers pose a major public health threat in Asia. This study analyzes temporal trends in incidence, mortality, disability and risk factors for 29 cancer types across 49 Asian countries from 1990 to 2019 using Global Burden of Disease 2019 estimates. Combined cancers produced 5.6 million deaths, 9.4 million incident cases and 144.7 million DALYs in 2019, with substantial cross-country variation. Between 1990 and 2019, 17 cancers saw mortality doubling or more and 20 cancers increased by at least 150% in new cases.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

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Articles Temporal patterns of cancer burden in Asia, 1990–2019: a systematic examination for the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study GBD 2019 Asia and All Cancers Collaboratorsa Summary Background Cancers represent a challenging public health threat in Asia. This study examines the temporal patterns of incidence, mortality, disability and risk factors of 29 cancers in Asia in the last three decades. Methods The age, sex and year-wise estimates of incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of 29 cancers for 49 Asian countries from 1990 through 2019 were generated as a part of the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors 2019 study. Besides incidence, mortality and DALYs, we also examined the cancer burden measured in terms of DALYs and deaths attributable to risk factors, which had evidence of causation with different cancers. The development status of countries was measured using the socio-demographic index. Decomposition analysis was performed to gauge the change in cancer incidence between 1990 and 2019 due to population growth, aging and age-speciﬁc incidence rates. Findings All cancers combined claimed an estimated 5.6 million [95% uncertainty interval, 5.1–6.0 million] lives in Asia with 9.4 million [8.6–10.2 million] incident cases and 144.7 million [132.7–156.5 million] DALYs in 2019 . The agestandardized incidence rate (ASIR) of all cancers combined in Asia was 197.6/100,000 [181.0–214.4] in 2019, varying from 99.2/100,000 [76.1–126.0] in Bangladesh to 330.5/100,000 [298.5–365.8] in Cyprus. The age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) was 120.6/100,000 [110.1–130.7] in 2019, varying 4-folds across countries from 71.0/100,000 [59.9–83.5] in Kuwait to 284.2/100,000 [229.2–352.3] in Mongolia. The age-standardized DALYs rate was 2970.5/ 100,000 [2722.6–3206.5] in 2019, varying from 1578.0/100,000 [1341.2–1847.0] in Kuwait to 6574.4/100,000 [5141.7–8333.0] in Mongolia. Between 1990 and 2019, deaths due to 17 of the 29 cancers either doubled or more, and 20 of the 29 cancers underwent an increase of 150% or more in terms of new cases. Tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer (both sexes), breast cancer (among females), colon and rectum cancer (both sexes), stomach cancer (both sexes) and prostate cancer (among males) were among top-5 cancers in most Asian countries in terms of ASIR and ASMR in 2019 and cancers of liver, stomach, hodgkin lymphoma and esophageal cancer posted the most signiﬁcant decreases in age-standardized rates between 1990 and 2019 . Among the modiﬁable risk factors, smoking, alcohol use, ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution and unsafe sex remained the dominant risk factors between 1990 and 2019 . Cancer DALYs due to ambient PM pollution, high body mass index and fasting plasma glucose has increased most notably between 1990 and 2019 . Interpretation With growing incidence, cancer has become more signiﬁcant public health threat in Asia, demanding urgent policy attention and guidance. Its heightened risk calls for increased cancer awareness, preventive measures, affordable early-stage detection, and cost-effective therapeutics in Asia. The current study can serve as a useful resource for policymakers and researchers in Asia for devising interventions for cancer management and control. Funding The GBD study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2023 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)). Keywords: Cancer burden; Asia; Incidence; Mortality; Disability adjusted life years; Global burden of disease Introduction Asia is witnessing an epidemiological transition characterized by declining fertility rates, increasing life spans, and decreasing mortality rates along with a shifting burden of infectious diseases towards noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular aCollabora

FAQs

What cancers and which countries are analyzed in the study?

The study examines temporal patterns for 29 cancers in 49 Asian countries across 1990 to 2019.

How were cancer trends measured over time?

Incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are reported with age, sex and year-wise estimates, along with analyses of risk-factor attributable DALYs and deaths.

What did the study find about changes from 1990 to 2019?

Deaths due to 17 of 29 cancers either doubled or more, and 20 of 29 cancers increased by 150% or more in new cases, alongside major roles for smoking, alcohol, ambient PM pollution and unsafe sex.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick