Systematic analysis of global burden of cancer in children and adolescents, 1990-2023

Information on childhood (aged 0-19 years) cancer burden is crucial for effective cancer policy planning. A systematic analysis of results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) 2023 estimated this burden. Globally, in 2023, there were 377 000 incident childhood cancer cases (95% UI 288 000-489 0000, 144 000 deaths (131 000-162 000) and 11.7 million DALYs due to childhood cancers. Death due to childhood cancer decreased by 27.0% (15.5-36.1) globally, from 197 000 (173 000- 218 000) in 1990, but increased in the WHO African region by 55.6% (25.5-92.4). In 2023, age-standardized years of life lost due to childhood cancer were inverely correlated with country-level Socio-demographic Index. Childhood cancer was the eight-leading cause of childhood deaths and the ninth-leading cause of DALYs among all cancers in 2023. The percentage of DALYs due to childhood cancers was reduced from 26.5% (26.5-26.5) in GBD 2017 to 10.5% (8.1-13.1) with the addition of nine new cancer causes. The authors conclude that global childhood cancer burden remains a substantial contributor to global childhood disease and cancer burden and is disproportionally weighted towards resource-limited settings.