Global and national trends in years of life lost and years lived with disability caused by three common gastrointestinal cancers from 1990 to 2019

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal cancers are a critical global cancer burden, and tracking their trends would inform the health policies. METHODS: Trends of years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) caused by three common gastrointestinal cancers were estimated using annual percentage change (EAPC) and age-standardized rate (ASR). Data was extracted from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019. RESULTS: The ASR per 100,000 population-year of YLLs caused by esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, and colorectal cancer were 137.98, 264.15, and 282.51 in 2019, respectively. Their overall trends of YLLs declined during 1990–2019, with the respective EAPCs being − 1.42 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: − 1.71 to − 1.13), − 2.13 (95%CI: − 2.29 to − 1.96), and − 0.25 (95%CI: − 0.30 to − 0.19). Meanwhile, decreasing trends of YLDs caused by esophageal cancer and stomach cancer were observed, in which the EAPCs were − 0.67 (95%: − 0.94 to − 0.40) and − 0.85 (95%CI: − 0.97 to − 0.73), respectively. However, an increasing trend was seen in that of colorectal cancer (EAPC = 0.83, 95%CI: 0.77 to 0.89). Among countries, the largest decrease in trend of YLLs was that of stomacher cancer in the Republic of Korea (EAPC = − 5.88, 95%CI: − 6.07 to − 5.69). However, pronounced increasing trend of YLDs caused by colorectal cancer occurred in China (EAPC = 4.40, 95%CI: 4.07 to 4.72). CONCLUSIONS: Decreasing trends in YLLs and YLDs caused by esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, and colorectal cancer were observed in most countries and regions, indicating that the great progress had been achieved over the past decades. However, the cancer burden was geographical heterogeneity, and cost-effective measures were still required to decline the burden caused by gastrointestinal cancers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12876-022-02567-5.