Years of life lost due to cancer in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2017

Sep 24, 2026

Investigated how years of life lost (YLL) can be applied in routine UK cancer statistics using cancer mortality data from 1988 to 2017 across 17 specific cancers and all cancers combined. YLL, the age-standardised YLL rate (ASYR) and the age-standardised mortality rate (ASMR) were estimated by sex, 5-year age group and year. Findings highlight multi-period YLL averages, cancer-specific drivers and age-pattern peaks, culminating in a conclusion that YLL reflects societal impact and assigns greater weight to deaths at younger ages.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

[www.nature.com/bjc](www.nature.com/bjc British)[ British](www.nature.com/bjc British) Journal of Cancer ARTICLE OPEN Years of life lost due to cancer in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2017 Amar S. Ahmad 1,5, Judith Offman 2,3,5 ✉, Christine Delon 1, Bernard V. North4, Jon Shelton1 and Peter D. Sasieni 2,3 © The Author(s) 2023 | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | BACKGROUND: We investigated the application of years of life lost (YLL) in routine cancer statistics using cancer mortality data from 1988 to 2017 .
METHODS: Cancer mortality data for 17 cancers and all cancers in the UK from 1988 to 2017 were provided by the UK Association of Cancer Registries by sex, 5-year age group, and year. YLL, age-standardised YLL rate (ASYR) and age-standardised mortality rate (ASMR) were estimated.
RESULTS: The annual average YLL due to cancer, in the time periods 1988–1992 and 2013–2017, were about 2.2 and 2.3 million years, corresponding to 4510 and 3823 ASYR per 100,000 years, respectively. During 2013–2017, the largest number of YLL occurred in lung, bowel and breast cancer. YLL by age groups for all cancers showed a peak between 60–64 and 75–79 . The relative contributions to incidence, mortality, and YLL differ between cancers. For instance, pancreas (in women and men) made up a smaller proportion of incidence (3%) but bigger proportion of mortality (6 and 5%) and YLL (5 and 6%), whereas prostate cancer (26% of incidence) contributed 13% mortality and 9% YLL.
CONCLUSION: YLL is a useful measure of the impact different cancers have on society and puts a higher weight on cancer deaths | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | in younger individuals. | | | | | British Journal of Cancer (2023) 129:1558–1568; [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02422-8](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02422-8) | | | | | | INTRODUCTION Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide [1], and in the United Kingdom, there were ~275 cancer deaths per 100,000 per year on average between 2013 and 2017 [2] . National cancer statistics provide summary statistics on society’s burden of cancer using the number of cancer deaths, as well as crude and agestandardised cancer incidence and mortality rates [3] . However, some cancer sites can have more impact on younger people than on older people [4] . Even though incidence rates for all cancers combined were highest in people aged 85–89 years of age in the UK, adults aged 50–74 accounted for more than half of all new cancer cases in 2016–2018 [5] . Therefore, the number of years of life lost (YLL) is an additional useful summary statistic, which weighs the number of deaths at a given age group by its life expectancy. It essentially gives a greater weight to deaths at a younger age and a lower weight to deaths in older age [6] . Understanding the burden cancer places on society is important when planning services and interventions and can help determine where resources should be focused for possible new screening programmes, research programmes and where public health interventions can do the most [7] . YLL can be estimated using different methodological approaches [8] . Even though these methods share similar concepts, the total number of YLL estimated varies according to the technique used. The most commonly used methods are, ﬁrstly, the use of life tables, where the YLL are calculated from the number of deaths multiplied by the UK life expectancy at the age at which deaths occurs [9] . Secondly, the years of potential/ premature life lost (YPLL) approach use a selected cut-off, e.g., age 65 or 75, giving more weight to deaths occurring at younger ages [8] . Thirdly, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) approach, which calculates YLLs using a complex modelling approach, where a standard age-speciﬁc GBD life expectancy is applied to modelled mortality [10] . Two studies have so far estimated the YLL to

FAQs

What is the main goal of the study on years of life lost (YLL)?

To evaluate YLL as an indicator of cancer death and to assess whether YLL should be used in standard cancer research reports and publications.

Which data and cancers were analyzed to estimate YLL?

Cancer mortality data from 1988 to 2017 were used for 17 cancers and for all cancers combined, provided with breakdowns by sex, 5-year age group and year.

How do the study results describe the pattern of YLL over time and by cancer type?

The study reports annual average YLL levels for defined periods and shows that, during 2013–2017, the largest YLL occurred for lung, bowel and breast cancer, with age-group peaks between 60–64 and 75–79.

Sep 24, 2026

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