Abstract
Although deaths from infectious diseases have declined dramatically around the globe over the past 3 decades, deaths from noncommunicable diseases, including 4 cancers, are on the rise, according to a worldwide study of 235 causes of death in 187 countries.
Thanks to countless advances in medicine, people around the world live longer now than they did 20 years ago. Unfortunately, they tend to suffer from more chronic health conditions and some cancers than in 1990.
That's one of the main findings of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD), led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle and published in The Lancet in December. Described as “the most comprehensive and systematic analysis of causes of death undertaken to date,” the study includes data on 235 causes of death in 187 countries over 3 decades—from 1980 to 2010. The first GBD was completed in 1990.
About 25% of deaths globally in 2010 were attributed to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional causes, based on the GBD data, down from about 34% of deaths in 1990. In contrast, deaths from noncommunicable diseases—a category that includes cancers as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other conditions—rose by 30%.
“We're finding that very few people are walking around with perfect health and that, as people age, they accumulate health conditions,” Christopher Murray, MD, DPhil, director of the IHME and a founder of the GBD, said in a statement accompanying the GBD's release. In addition to suggesting that individuals may need to reconsider the implications of aging, he noted that the GBD findings have “profound implications for health systems as they set priorities.”
In 1990, according to the previous study, 4 types of cancer ranked among the top 25 causes of death worldwide—lung (8th), stomach (13th), colorectal (21st) and liver (24th). Although stomach cancer dropped to 17th on the list by 2010, the percentage of deaths attributed to the other 3 cancers all increased:
Lung cancer deaths increased by 48%, moving the disease up to 5th in the rankings.
Liver cancer deaths jumped by 63%, taking over 16th place. Roughly half of these deaths were attributed to hepatitis B infection. Rates of hepatitis C infection and alcohol use, both of which are linked to liver cancer, also increased.
Colorectal cancer deaths rose by 46%, climbing to 19th place.
The researchers also noted marked variation in the rate of specific cancers in different regions of the world. For example, the high-income Asia Pacific region had substantially higher rates of liver and stomach cancers than Western Europe. Conversely, Western Europe had a much higher rate of breast cancer.