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Abstract
Background: Central Asia is known to face various ecological challenges that constitute major risk factors for cancer. This study explored the cancer burden in Central Asia, where the estimates are among the highest worldwide.
Methods: Extracting data from the latest global burden of disease study (GBD 2021), the authors investigated the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), deaths, and incidence of various cancer groups in Central Asian countries from to 1990-2021. We conducted descriptive analyses of cancer statistics and calculated the average annual percent change (AAPC) to analyze the temporal patterns for individual country estimates.
Results: Over the study period, DALYs decreased and were primarily driven by premature deaths, with pronounced estimates in male subjects. While DALYs, deaths, and incidence figures were somewhat comparable for most countries, Kazakhstan had exceptionally high estimates during the 1990s. However, over the following decades, the country revealed the highest decrease for all the metrics, measured by the AAPCs for incidence -1.32% (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: -1.44% to -1.19%); deaths -2.28% (95% UI: -2.51% to -2.05%); DALYs -2.50% (95% UI: -2.74% to -2.24%). Across the region, the leading cancer sites were tracheal, bronchus, and lung, stomach, colon and rectum and esophageal cancers, in both sexes combined. Sex-specific cancer estimates showed slight variations, with a notable burden observed in females.
Conclusion: This study revealed an overall decrease in the cancer burden between 1990 and 2021. However, the temporal patterns of the risk factors remain a concern. Our findings highlight the importance of preventive measures and early diagnosis. Additionally, when interpreting GBD 2021 findings, future studies should consider the potential impact of salmon bias, where selective migration affects the modelled estimates.
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Original Article
ELECTRON J GEN MED, Volume 23, Issue 2, April 2026, Article No: em718
https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/17973
Publication date: 01 Mar 2026
Online publication date: 25 Feb 2026
Article Views: 16
Article Downloads: 14
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