Burden of Hematological Malignancies in East Asia from 1990 to 2021

Introduction: Hematological malignancies (HMs) represent a diverse spectrum of hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms involving the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic organs. Better understanding of the burden of HMs in East Asia will allow for more targeted policy and public health efforts. Methods: Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021, we extracted 2021 and 1990–2021 trend estimates for total counts and age-standardized rates (per 100,000 person-years) for incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for leukemia and subtypes, multiple myeloma (MM), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in East Asia (China, Japan, North Korea, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan). Results: In 2021, the burden of HMs globally and in East Asia was driven by China and Japan. China had the highest global HM burden with 238,051 new cases, 117,188 deaths, and 3.9 million DALYs. NHL and leukemia accounted for the majority of new cases, deaths, and DALYs in all countries. From 1990 to 2021, in most HMs and countries the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) increased, while the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized DALY rate (ASDALYR) decreased. The notable exception is the significant increase of MM ASIR, ASMR, and ASDALYR in Mongolia, Taiwan, and China, with increases in China by 200–300%. Conclusions: With the significant contribution to the global burden of HMs from China and Japan, diagnosis and treatment of HMs in these two countries should be a primary global health focus. The significant relative increase of MM ASIR, ASMR, and DALYs across many East Asia countries, especially in China, highlights MM as an important public health focus. Significant variations between the other East Asia countries also warrant further country- and disease-specific investigations.