Burden of Tracheal, Bronchus, and Lung Cancer and Its Attributable Risk Factors in 204 Countries and Territories, 1990 to 2019

Abstract

IntroductionUnderstanding trends in the annual incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer globally is important to enable appropriate targeting of resources for prevention, clinical practice improvement, and research. The aim of this study was to determine the global, regional, and national burdens of TBL cancer in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019 by age, sex, and sociodemographic index. MethodsEstimates were produced through various data inputs including the following: cancer registries (nsite-years = 5318), vital registration (nsite-years = 22,553), vital registration-sample (nsite-years = 825), and verbal autopsies (nsite-years = 516). Annual incidence, mortality, and DALYs were estimated and presented as counts and age-standardized rates per 100,000 population. ResultsThere were 2.3 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 2.1–2.5) incident cases of TBL cancer, with an age-standardized annual incidence rate of 27.7 (95% UI: 25.3–30), which decreased by 2.6% (95% UI: −12.4 to 6.5) between 1990 and 2019. TBL cancer was responsible for 2 million (95% UI: 1.9–2.2) deaths globally with an age-standardized death rate of 25.2 (95% UI: 23.2–27), a decrease of 7.8% (95% UI: −15.9 to 0.2) between 1990 and 2019. Moreover, TBL accounted for 45.9 million (95% UI: 42.3–49.3) DALYs at the global level, with an age-standardized rate of 551.6 (95% UI: 509–593.1) DALYs per 100,000 population. The standardized DALY rate declined by 16.2% (95% UI: −24 to −8.2) from 1990 to 2019. Greenland (77.7 [95% UI: 64.4–90.6]), Monaco (75.6 [95% UI: 61.4–90.8]), and Montenegro (56.7 [95% UI: 46.5–68.9]) had the three highest age-standardized annual incidence rates. The aforementioned three countries also had the three highest age-standardized death and DALY rates of TBL cancer. Honduras (68% [95% UI: 14.5–137.7]), Cabo Verde (62.2% [95% UI: 24.1–101.3]), and Monaco (58.2% [95% UI: 19.2–109.7]) had the largest increase in age-standardized annual incidence rates for TBL cancer during 1990 to 2019. The largest increases were found in age-standardized death rates of TBL cancer in Honduras (67.1% [95% UI: 14.7–133.1]), Cabo Verde (64.4% [95% UI: 25–103.4]), and Mozambique (49.9% [95% UI: 7.9 –101.3]). Age-standardized annual incidence and death rates were higher in male than female individuals and increased with population aging. There were nonlinear but generally positive associations between age-standardized DALY rates with corresponding sociodemographic index of countries. Globally, smoking (62.4%), ambient particulate matter (15.3%), and high fasting plasma glucose (9.9%) had the top three highest percent of attributable DALYs owing to TBL cancer in 2019 for both sexes. ConclusionsThis study found a decline in burden globally but with some countries having an increase. These results are crucial to set priorities for prevention and treatment of TBL cancer and would be beneficial for policymakers, government officials, clinicians, and researchers.