ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuro-Oncology and Neurosurgical Oncology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1574614
The global, regional, and national Brain and central nervous system cancer burden and trends from 1990 to 2021: analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted
- 1The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
- 2Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Anhui Province, China
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Background: Brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers remain a significant contributor to mortality worldwide. This study aims to provide the latest assessment of the prevalence, incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rates of brain and CNS cancers from 1990 to 2021 at the global, regional, and national levels, stratified by sex, age, and the Sociodemographic Index (SDI).Methods: Data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database were used to analyze the age-standardized prevalence (ASPR), incidence (ASIR), mortality (ASDR), and DALY rates of brain and CNS cancers. Joinpoint regression was employed to calculate the annual percent change (APC), and a log-transformed linear regression model was used to estimate the average annual percent change (EAPC) for trend analysis. The data were stratified by sex, 20 age groups, 21 GBD regions, 204 countries/territories, and five SDI quintiles.In 2021, there were an estimated 975,279.16 (95% UI, 857,199.67-1,096,203.50) global cases of brain and CNS cancers. The ASPR was 12.01 (95% UI, 10.54-13.52) per 100,000 population; the ASIR was 4.28 (95% UI, 3.71-4.88) per 100,000; the ASDR was 3.06 (95% UI, 2.62-3.50) per 100,000; and the agestandardized DALY rate was 49.58 (95% UI, 28.22-69.92) per 100,000. By SDI regions, the High SDI region showed the highest ASPR and ASIR, the High-Middle SDI region had the highest ASDR and age-standardized DALY rates, and the Low SDI region reported the lowest rates. Geographically, the High-income Asia Pacific region recorded the highest ASPR, Western Europe the highest ASIR, and Central Europe the highest ASDR and age-standardized DALY rates.Overall, in most regions globally, ASIR, ASDR, and age-standardized DALY rates among males increased with age and exceeded those of females. In high-SDI regions, the burden of brain and CNS cancers was predominantly in older adults, whereas in low-SDI regions, the burden among children was pronounced.The global burden of brain and CNS cancers is highest in High and High-Middle SDI regions, with a particularly severe burden in children in Low SDI regions.A comprehensive understanding of the epidemiology of brain and CNS cancers is crucial for strengthening disease prevention and control efforts worldwide.
Keywords: Brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancer, Global burden of disease, Prevalence, Incidence, Mortality, Disability-adjusted life years
Received: 14 Feb 2025; Accepted: 09 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, He, Yang, Geng, Zhu and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xinhua Zhu, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
Ning Tang, The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
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