Burden of esophageal cancer between 2010 and 2019 in Asian countries by geographical region and sociodemographic index: A comparison with global data

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe the trends in incidence, mortality, and burden of esophageal cancer (EC) in Asia from 2010 through 2019 and compare with other global continental data. METHODS: We collected EC data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study from 2010 to 2019 in 49 countries and territories in Asia based on the sociodemographic index (SDI). For all locations, annual case data and age‐standardized rates (ASRs) were extracted to investigate the EC incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability‐adjusted life‐years (DALYs). The ASR relative difference (%) between years and the male/female (M/F) ratio were calculated. Data are reported in values and 95% uncertainty interval (UI). RESULTS: In 2019, more than 70% of EC new cases, deaths, prevalence, and DALYs occurred in Asian countries. From 2010 to 2019, incidences, deaths, prevalence cases, and DALY number of EC increased over 1.10‐, 1.07‐, 1.14‐, and 1.03‐fold, in Asia. During this period, the age‐standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age‐standardized death rate (ASDR), age‐standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and age‐standardized DALYs rate (DALYs ASR) of EC decreased by 18, 21, 14, and 22%, respectively. The rate of decline in Asia is higher than in the world and other continents. In 2019, age‐specific incidence, death, prevalence, and DALY cases of EC cancer peaked at 65–74, 70–74, 65–69, and 65–69 years, respectively. In 2019, the highest ASIR, ASDR, ASPR, and DALYs ASR of EC were observed in East Asian countries, while having the highest decreasing trend. In 2019, among high SDI Asian countries, Taiwan had the highest ASIR, ASPR, and DALYs ASR, and the United Arab Emirates had the highest ASDR. Among high‐middle SDIs, Kazakhstan had the highest ASIR, ASPR, ASDR, and DALYs ASR; among middle SDIs, China had the highest ASIR, ASDR, and ASPR, and Viet Nam had the highest DALYs ASR; among low‐middle SDIs, Mongolia had the highest ASIR, ASDR, ASPR, and DALY ASR of EC cancer. Among low SDI Asian countries, Pakistan had the highest ASIR and ASPR, and DALY ASR for EC cancer. For four indicators, in most countries, the ratio of men was higher than women, and in some countries, this ratio reached more than 10 times. CONCLUSION: Although the rate of decline in incidence, death, prevalence and burden of EC in Asia was higher than in other areas in the last 10 years, more than 70% of these amounts occur in Asia. Therefore, it appears that adopting appropriate strategies in the field of identifying and controlling modifiable risk factors for EC, implementing screening programs, and timely diagnosis and treatment will help in reducing the burden of this disease in Asian countries.