Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 25:2022:1612702.
doi: 10.1155/2022/1612702. eCollection 2022.

The Global Burden of Leukemia and Its Attributable Factors in 204 Countries and Territories: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study and Projections to 2030

Mengbao Du  1 , Weiwei Chen  2 , Ke Liu  2 , Limengmeng Wang  1   3   4   5 , Yihan Hu  2 , Yingying Mao  2 , Xiaohui Sun  2 , Yi Luo  1   3 , Jimin Shi  1   3 , Keding Shao  6 , He Huang  1   3   4   5 , Ding Ye  2
Affiliations

The Global Burden of Leukemia and Its Attributable Factors in 204 Countries and Territories: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study and Projections to 2030

Mengbao Du et al. J Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Leukemia is a common malignancy that has four main subtypes and is a threat to human health. Understanding the epidemiological status of leukemia and its four main subtypes globally is important for allocating appropriate resources, guiding clinical practice, and furthering scientific research.

Methods: Average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) were calculated to estimate the change trends of age-standardized rates (ASRs) from 1990 to 2019 in 204 countries and territories. The risk factors for leukemia death and disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) were also analyzed. In addition, the future trends in ASRs were projected through 2030.

Results: The total number of incident cases, deaths, and DALYs from leukemia in 2019 was 0.64, 0.33, and 11.66 million, respectively. Decreasing trends in age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), the age-standardized death rate (ASDR), and age-standardized DALY rate were detected on a global level while increasing trends in ASIR were detected in the high-sociodemographic index (SDI) regions. The leukemia burden was heavier in males than in females. By cause, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were more likely to impose a burden on the elderly, while acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) showed a greater impact in the younger population. A significant positive correlation was observed between SDI and AAPC in ASIR, while SDI was negatively correlated with AAPCs in both ASDR and age-standardized DALY rate. Smoking remained the most significant risk factor associated with leukemia-related death and DALY, especially in males. Similar deaths and DALYs were caused by smoking and high body mass index (BMI) in females. Future projections through 2030 estimated that ASIR and ASDR will continue to increase, while the DALY rate is predicted to decline.

Conclusions: Patterns and trends of leukemia burden are correlated with SDI. The estimated contributions to leukemia deaths indicate that timely measures are needed to reduce smoking and obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The AAPC in ASRs (per 105 population) for leukemia incidence (a), death (b), and DALY (c) from 1990 to 2019 worldwide.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The ASIR (a), ASDR (b), and age-standardized DALY rate (c) of leukemia by gender and SDI quintiles in 2019.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The age distribution of incident cases (a), deaths (b), and DALYs (c) due to 4 leukemia subtypes in 2019.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The correlation of AAPCs in ASIR (a), ASDR (b), and age-standardized DALY rate (c) with the SDI value in 204 countries/territories in 2019. The size of the circle indicates the number, and one circle represents a specific country.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The attributable risk factors of deaths (a) and DALYs (b) due to 4 leukemia subtypes globally and in high, high middle, middle, low middle, and low SDI quintiles in 2019. The numbers are presented after being divided by 10,000.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Age-standardized (world population) trends in observed (solid lines) and predicted (dashed lines) ASRs of incidence (a), deaths (b), and DALY (c) from 1990 to 2030, by subtype.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Juliusson G., Hough R. Leukemia. Tumor Research . 2016;43:87–100. doi: 10.1159/000447076. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Campo E., Harris N. L., Jaffe E. S., et al. In: WHO classification of tumours of haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues . 4th. Swerdlow S. H., editor. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2008.
    1. Antar A. I., Otrock Z. K., Jabbour E., Mohty M., Bazarbachi A. FLT3 inhibitors in acute myeloid leukemia: ten frequently asked questions. Leukemia . 2020;34(3):682–696. doi: 10.1038/s41375-019-0694-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Burger J. A. Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors: present and future. Cancer Journal . 2019;25(6):386–393. doi: 10.1097/PPO.0000000000000412. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rossari F., Minutolo F., Orciuolo E. Past, present, and future of Bcr-Abl inhibitors: from chemical development to clinical efficacy. Journal of Hematology & Oncology . 2018;11(1):p. 84. doi: 10.1186/s13045-018-0624-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources