ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gynecological Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1647757
Burden and trends of ovarian and uterine cancer due to high body mass index from 1990 to 2021: an age-period-cohort study based on the GBD 2021, and projections through 2036
Provisionally accepted
Hui Juan Zhou1,2*
Bo Yin1,2- 1Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Shanghai, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Ovarian cancer (OC) and uterine cancer (UC) are significant public health concerns among women of reproductive age. High body mass index (BMI) contributes to the increasing burden of these cancers globally, but comprehensive epidemiological assessments remain limited.Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021Study (1990Study -2021)). Deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and corresponding age-standardized rates (ASRs) were calculated to assess disease burden. Burden by age was analyzed in five-year intervals. Differences across Sociodemographic Index (SDI) quintiles were compared. Temporal trends from 1990 to 2021 were assessed using estimated annual percentage change and absolute number changes. Future ASRs were projected to 2036 using a Bayesian age-period-cohort model.In 2021, an estimated 2,022 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 473-3,611) deaths and 99,915 (95% UI, 22,387 -178,579) DALYs from OC attributable to high BMI occurred among women of reproductive age, with Eastern Europe exhibiting the highest age-standardized mortality rate and DALYs among 21 GBD regions. For UC, there were 2,202 (95% UI, 1,545 -2,910) deaths and 114,117 (95% UI, 80,122 -150,221) DALYs, with the Caribbean among the regions with the highest burden. From 1990 to 2021, ASRs for mortality and DALYs for both OC and UC attributable to high BMI significantly increased and are projected to continue rising over the next 15 years. The burden increased with age, peaking at 45-49 years. Regionally, burden rose in lowand middle-SDI areas, while high-SDI regions showed initial increases followed by declines.The rising mortality and DALYs of OC and UC attributable to high BMI, especially in low-and middle-SDI regions and high-burden areas such as Eastern Europe and the Caribbean, highlight an urgent need for targeted prevention and weight management interventions among women of reproductive age.
Keywords: high body mass index, ovarian cancer, Uterine Cancer, Disability-adjusted life years, Global Burden of Disease High body mass index, Global burden of disease
Received: 23 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou and Yin. 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: Hui Juan Zhou, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.