Mesothelioma incidence, death rates dropped between 1990 and 2019

Key takeaways:

• Global age-standardized rates of mesothelioma incidence and death were lower in 2019 vs. 1990.
• The attributed reason for 85.2% of mesothelioma disability-adjusted life-years was occupational asbestos exposure.

Between 1990 and 2019, global age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of mesothelioma went down, according to results published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

“This study would be useful for policymakers to assess the burden of mesothelioma and carry out appropriate plans against this cancer and its risk factors,” Jonghoon Han, from the College of Medicine at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues wrote.

With vital registration and cancer registry data, Han and colleagues estimated and evaluated global, regional and national incidence rates and deaths of mesothelioma from 1990 to 2019.

Globally, researchers found 34,511 incident cases of mesothelioma and 29,251 deaths due to mesothelioma in 2019.

Comparing age-standardized incidence rates of the two studied years revealed a 12.6% reduction between 1990 and 2019, with a rate of 0.43 per 100,000 person-years in 2019.

Researchers also observed a 9.6% drop in the age-standardized mesothelioma mortality rate between the 2 years. This rate was 0.36 deaths per 100,000 person-years in 2019.

In 2019, the region with the highest age-standardized mesothelioma incidence rate was Australasia with 2.2 per 100,000 person-years, and the region with the lowest incidence rate was western sub-Saharan Africa with 0.12 per 100,000 person-years.

Unlike the reduction seen in the global age-standardized mesothelioma incidence rate between 1990 and 2019, this rate increased by 46.1% in central Europe.

Notably, both Andean Latin America and high-income North America had significant decreases of 49.5% and 18.4%, respectively, in this rate in 2019 vs. 1990.

In terms of mortality, researchers found that Andean Latin America and high-income North America also had significantly reduced mortality rates of 48% and 14.7%, respectively, between 1990 and 2019.

Compared with 1990 rates, central Europe had a higher mortality rate in 2019 by 55.6%, as did southern Latin America (28.7%) and high-income Asia Pacific (20.8%).

Among countries, the highest incidence rate for mesothelioma in 2019 standardized for age was found in Australia and the Netherlands at 2.34 per 100,000 person-years. The U.K. followed closely behind with a rate of 2.33 per 100,000 person-years.

According to researchers, Australia (2.34), the Netherlands (2.34) and the U.K. (2.33) also had the greatest age-standardized mortality rates across countries.

When divided by sex and age, researchers found that men aged 45 to 49 years and 90 to 94 years had more cases of mesothelioma and a higher incidence rate vs. women of those ages in 2019. Out of all age ranges, the greatest incidence rate for both sexes was found in the 85- to 89-year-old range.

Researchers also evaluated how the age-standardized mesothelioma disability-adjusted life-year rate was linked to sociodemographic index and found a nonlinear relationship at the national level.

The attributed reason for a majority (85.2%) of mesothelioma disability-adjusted life-years was occupational asbestos exposure, according to researchers.

“Whereas age-standardized incidence and mortality rates increased in some countries and regions during the measurement period, the rates decreased at the global level,” Han and colleagues wrote.

Yet mesothelioma is still a significant challenge to public health throughout the world, they continued.

“Further research is required to assess the effects of factors associated with mesothelioma incidence other than exposure to asbestos and to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of this cancer,” the researchers wrote.