Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026
A Three-Dimensional Spheroid Model to Investigate the Tumor-Stromal Interaction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Published on: September 30, 2021
Association between the Human Development Index and the burden of major gastrointestinal cancers: results from Global
Mehdi Azizmohammad Looha1, Ali Saberi Shahrbabaki2, Sina Yoosefi3
1Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Aim:
To assess the longitudinal association between the Human Development Index (HDI) and the global burden of major gastrointestinal (GI) cancers from 1990 to 2021.
Background:
GI cancers contribute substantially to global incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), with wide variation across HDI levels.
Methods:
Using Global Burden of Disease 2021 data, we analyzed age-standardized incidence (ASIR), mortality (ASMR), disability-adjusted life-year (ASDR), and tobacco-attributable mortality for colorectal, liver, pancreatic, and stomach cancers (1990-2021). Countries were classified as more developed (HDI ≥0.700) or less developed (HDI <0.700), and associations were assessed using longitudinal multilevel mixed-effects models and Spearman correlations.
Results:
In 2021, HDI was positively correlated with colorectal and pancreatic cancer burden, while liver cancer showed inverse associations only in less developed countries and stomach cancer only in more developed settings. For tobacco-attributable ASMR, associations were positive for colorectal and pancreatic cancers, non-significant for liver, and opposite for stomach (positive in less vs. inverse in more developed countries). Longitudinally (1990-2021), colorectal cancer showed a rising ASIR in both groups, but significantly divergent slopes for ASMR and ASDR, with declining rates in more developed countries and increasing rates in less developed countries. Liver cancer had significantly unfavorable slopes, with ASIR, ASMR, and ASDR increasing in more developed but declining in less developed settings. Pancreatic cancer exhibited increases in all measures, with significantly slower growth in more developed countries. Stomach cancer showed consistent declines across all measures, with considerably steeper reductions in more developed regions.
Conclusion:
Human development strongly shapes GI cancer burden, with divergent high- and low-HDI trends evident only in longitudinal analyses.
Related Concept Videos
02:59Cancer Prevention
Some...
01:17Chronic Bowel Disorders: Introduction
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder affecting the gastrointestinal tract. The distinctive feature is recurrent abdominal pain associated with altered bowel movements, manifesting as constipation, diarrhea, or fluctuating between both. The...
01:30Inflammatory Bowel Disease II: Crohn's Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease, commonly known as IBD, refers to a collection of disorders that lead to persistent inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The two types of IBD are ulcerative colitis, which impacts the colon, and Crohn's disease, which can involve any part of the gastrointestinal segment.
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a chronic, systemic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that predominantly affects the gastrointestinal tract. It is marked by transmural...
01:27Peptic Ulcer
01:26Gastritis II: Pathophysiology
01:25Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease