Work

Global burden and temporal trends of cervical cancer in women aged 60 years and older, 1990-2021: a Global Burden of Disease study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Age-standardized cervical cancer rates have fallen worldwide since 1990, yet demographic aging may be increasing the absolute burden among older women; evidence specific to those aged 60 years and older remains fragmented. METHODS: We analyzed Global Burden of Disease 2021 estimates (1990-2021). Outcomes included counts and age-standardized rates for incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years, plus estimated annual percentage change. We examined the age-specific trends in women aged ≥ 60 years by sociodemographic index and applied a frontier framework (an efficiency benchmark mapping the minimum observed burden at each sociodemographic index; "distance to frontier" denotes the shortfall) to quantify performance gaps. RESULTS: Despite falling age-standardized rates for incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years, absolute cases and deaths among women aged 60 years and older increased with population growth and aging. Declines were limited at ages 85 years or older. Frontier analysis indicated large, potentially avoidable gaps and wide dispersion at comparable levels of the sociodemographic index: high settings improved most; high-middle and middle settings improved modestly; low-middle settings, notably at ages 70 to 84 years, lagged; and low settings remained high. Mortality dominated disability-adjusted life-years, implying that rate reductions have not yielded proportional survival gains at advanced ages. CONCLUSIONS: Cervical cancer control is challenged by population aging, which elevates the absolute burden in older women even as age-standardized rates decline. Risk-based human papillomavirus screening with self-collection and geriatric assessment-guided treatment must be prioritized to convert rate declines into fewer deaths and less disability in older women.

Source: International Journal of Gynecological Cancer

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgc.2025.102851

Authors: Yonghong Song, Guangqin Ran, Rongchun Zeng, Cheng Chen

Institution: Chongqing University

Language: English

Topic: Cervical Cancer and HPV Research

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,800