Global, Regional, and National Burden of Leukemia (1990–2021): A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

INTRODUCTION: Leukemia is a group of diseases caused by malignant hematopoietic stem cell clones. Leukemia ranks 13th in incidence and 10th in mortality, according to the Global Cancer Statistics 2022. METHODS: We computed the prevalence, incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 data. We rigorously tested the time trend from 1990 to 2021 using Joinpoint regression analysis. This method facilitates the calculation of annual percentage change (APC), average annual percentage change, and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: In 2021, the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), and age-standardized DALYs rate of leukemia were 21.07 per 100,000 people (95% CI: 17.65-23.61), 5.63 per 100,000 people (95% CI: 4.83-6.17), 3.89 per 100,000 people (95% CI: 3.34-4.25), and 136.94 per 100,000 people (95% CI: 111.89-153.71), respectively. These figures have been obtained globally. Gender comparisons show that men have a higher burden of disease. The 90-94 age-group has the highest global prevalence of leukemia, with the prevalence increasing with age. Age-standardized DALYs rates, ASMR, and ASIR demonstrated a general declining trend from 1990 to 2021. The results of the Joinpoint analysis showed that between 2019 and 2021, there was a drop in the global ASPR (APC = -2.68%; 95% CI: -4.76% to -0.54%; p = 0.017), ASIR (APC = -2.46%; 95% CI: -3.33% to -1.59%; p < 0.001), and ASMR (APC = -1.87%; 95% CI: -2.75% to -0.99%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results indicated an overall decrease in the burden of leukemia. These results provide important epidemiological data for the development of novel treatments.