ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1624401
This article is part of the Research TopicAddressing Cancer in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Challenges and Opportunities for Improved OutcomesView all 4 articles
Persistent burden and health inequalities of lung cancer among adolescents and young adults, 1990-2021
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Taiyuan, China
- 2Department of Nursing, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Taiyuan, China
- 3Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Tai yuan, China
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Background: To assess the disease burden, trends, health inequality, and risk factors of lung cancer among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) during the period from 1990 to 2021. Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021, focusing on the temporal trends, decomposition analysis, health inequality and risk factors of lung cancer burden among AYAs. Results: Globally, the rate of lung cancer among AYAs decreased between 1990 and 2021, with the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) decreasing from 1.3 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 1.2 to 1.4) to 0.9 (95% UI, 0.8 to 1.0, AAPC = -1.2), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) decreasing from 1.1 (95% UI, 1.0 to 1.2) to 0.7 (95% UI, 0.6 to 0.8, AAPC = -1.4), and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years rate (ASDR) decreasing from 65.4 (95% UI, 60.2 to 71.1) to 42.1 (95% UI, 37.7 to 46.5, AAPC = -1.4). The global number of lung cancer among AYAs has only undergone slight changes, but the middle socio-demographic index (SDI) region, East Asia and China carried heavier lung cancer burden. Notably, the only increase in ASIR, ASDR, and ASMR was found in the low-middle SDI and low SDI regions, especially among women. Decomposition analysis showed that population growth and population aging are the primary driving forces behind the increasing lung cancer burden among AYAs. Smoking was the leading specific risk factor for men and the overall population in 2021, while ambient particulate matter pollution was identified as the leading specific risk for women. Health inequality analysis indicated that the absolute health inequalities marginally declined, while relative health inequalities remained relatively high, and the lung cancer burden among AYAs was predominantly in wealthier countries. Conclusions: While global ASIR, ASDR, and ASMR of lung cancer among AYAs have declined from 1990 to 2021, cross-national health inequality remained elevated and sustained, particularly in wealthier countries. Increased attention needs to be given to the lung cancer burden among AYAs in low- and middle-income countries and among women, while risk factors such as smoking and ambient particulate matter pollution remain critical targets for intervention.
Keywords: lung cancer, Epidemiology, Adolescents and young adults, health inequality, Global disease Burden 2021
Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wang, Chen, Qin, Zhang, Liu and Xun. 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: Ju-zi Wang, Department of Nursing, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Taiyuan, China
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