Published online Sep 15, 2024. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i9.3955
Revised: July 15, 2024
Accepted: August 7, 2024
Published online: September 15, 2024
Processing time: 73 Days and 17.2 Hours
Although gastrointestinal (GI) cancers have been becoming a great public health concern in China, there is currently a lack of comprehensive literature on the overall burden and changing trends of GI cancers in the working-age population.
To assess the burden of GI cancers and to examine the overall, age- and gender-specific trends among the working-age population in China from 1990 to 2019.
Data were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The burden of GI cancers was indicated by incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized mortality rate, and age-standardized DALYs rate. Trends in the burden of GI cancers from 1990 to 2019 were examined using annual percent change and average annual percent change with Joinpoint regression models.
For overall GI cancers, a declining trend was observed in the ASIR, age-standardized mortality rate, and age-standardized DALYs rate, with reductions of 0.74%, 2.23%, and 2.22%, respectively, from 1999 to 2019 in the Chinese working-age population. However, an increasing trend was observed in the ASIR for overall GI cancers from 2016-2019. The number of either incident cases, mortality cases, and DALYs was higher for colon/rectum cancer and liver cancer in younger participants but lower for esophageal, gallbladder, biliary tract, pancreatic, and stomach cancer among older subjects. Moreover, sex disparity in the GI cancers burden was also examined over 30 years.
The total burden of GI cancers remained heavy among the working-age population in China, although declining trends were observed from 1999 to 2019. Disparities in the GI cancers burden existed between sexes, age groups, and cancer types. Population-based precision prevention strategies are needed to tackle GI cancers among working-age individuals, considering the age, sex, and cancer type disparities in China.
Core Tip: This is the first study that systematically assessed total burden of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers among the working-age population in China. It was observed that GI cancers burden remained much heavy among working-age population, although declining trends in burden of GI cancers were examined from 1990 to 2019 in China. Moreover, substantial disparities in burden of GI cancers existed between genders, age-groups and cancer types. This study has important public health implications that precision prevention policies and strategies are needed for tackling GI cancers among working-age people with consideration of age-, gender- and type-specific effective and accessible approaches in China.