ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gynecological Oncology
Global burden of ovarian cancer attributable to high body mass index among women of childbearing age from 1990 to 2021 and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
- 2Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital & Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 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
Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) remains a lethal gynecologic cancer marked by substantially reduced 5-year survival probabilities. Elevated BMI (≥25 kg/m²) constitutes a progressively recognized OC risk determinant mediated by chronic inflammatory states and metabolic pathway perturbations. Leveraging GBD 2021 repositories, this investigation quantified high BMI-attributable ovarian cancer burden trajectories among reproductive-age women (WCBA, 15-49 years) worldwide. Methods: Leveraging GBD 2021 repositories, we evaluated worldwide OC burden mediated by elevated BMI across women of childbearing age (WCBA) during 1990-2021. Evaluated metrics comprised deaths, DALYs, YLDs, YLLs, and ASR (EAPC-based trend analysis). ARIMA and Exponential Smoothing models generated 2050 burden projections. Results: From 1990 to 2021, the global burden of OC attributable to high BMI increased significantly. In 2021, there were 17,344 deaths (95% UI: 4,141–30,810) and 477,248 DALYs (95% UI: 113,449–840,002) among WCBA. The ASMR rose from 0.32 (95% UI: 0.07–0.61) to 0.38 (95% UI: 0.09–0.67) per 100000 (EAPC: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.85–1.21). The ASDR increased from 8.72 (95% UI: 1.78–16.41) to 10.56 (95% UI: 2.50–18.57) per 100000 (EAPC: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.93–1.25). The burden peaked in the 45–49 age group, with 995 deaths and 44,223 DALYs. High SDI regions had the highest ASMR (0.57, 95% UI: 0.14– 1.01) and ASDR (15.13, 95% UI: 3.79–26.82). Projections indicate a continued increase in the OC burden attributable to high BMI by 2050, with the ASMR reaching 0.43 (95% HDI: 0.40–0.46) and the ASDR reaching 12.28 (95% HDI: 11.58–12.98). Conclusion: This study highlights the escalating global burden of OC attributable to high BMI among WCBA, particularly in high SDI regions. This investigation delineates progressively intensifying worldwide OC burden mediated by elevated BMI in WCBA, disproportionately affecting high SDI territories.
Keywords: BMI, disease burden, GBD 2021, ovarian cancer, Women of childbearing age (WCBA)
Received: 01 Sep 2025; Accepted: 30 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Lin, Chen and He. 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: Shanyang He
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.