Global, regional, and national burdens of leukemia from 1990 to 2017: a systematic analysis of the global burden of disease 2017 study

We described the spatial and temporal trends of the annual leukemia incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2017. Leukemia case numbers and age-standardized rates (ASRs) were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) in the ASR was calculated using a generalized linear model with a Gaussian distribution. The risk factors for death and DALYs due to leukemia were estimated within the comparative risk assessment framework of the GBD study. Globally, the prevalence, age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and EAPC in leukemia cases in 2017 were 2.43 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 2.19 to 2.59) million, 32.26 (95% UI 29.02 to 34.61), and 0.22% (95% CI 0.13 to 0.31, P<0.01), respectively, during 1990-2017. The trends of the age-standardized incidence, deaths, and DALY rate all significantly decreased globally. The burden of leukemia was higher in males than in female. An increasing leukemia burden was found in high-middle-sociodemographic index (SDI) countries and territories. The burden of leukemia tended to be lower in high-SDI regions than that in lower SDI regions. The rapid increases in the prevalent cases and prevalence rate of leukemia is urgent to be solved in the future.