Trend analysis of cancer mortality and years of life lost in the South of Iran 2004–2019. Joinpoint regression analysis

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and is a significant financial burden on public health systems. This study aimed to investigate cancer mortality trends and years of life lost (YLL) in Fars province. The data on the total number of deaths caused by cancer in Fars Province was collected from the Electronic Population-Based Death Registration System (EDRS). Various statistics such as crude and age-standardized mortality rates, YLL, and YLL rates were computed. To analyze the trend, the JoinPoint Regression method was utilized. Over a period of 16 years (2004–2019), there were 31,669 recorded deaths in Fars province. Of these, 59.4% (18806 cases) were male. The trend in age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) rose for both males and females. The annual percent change (APC) was 1.3 (0.6 to 2.1, P for trend = 0.002) for males and 1.8 (0.8 to 2.9, P for trend = 0.001) for females. During the 16-year study period, the total YLL was 247,035 (7.8 per 1000 people) in males and 202,037 (6.6 per 1000 people) in females. The highest number of YLL in males due to cancer was caused by leukemia and lymphoma (13.3%), stomach (13.1%), and lung (11.4%). In females, the highest number of YLL due to cancer was caused by breast (16.4%), leukemia and lymphoma (11.4%), and stomach (9.9%). Based on the join point regression analysis, the rate of YLL due to premature mortality increased during the 16-year trend: APC was 2.3% (95% CI 1.8 to 2.8, p<0.001) for males and 3.5% (95% CI 2.7 to 4.4, p<0.001) for females. The crude, standardized mortality rates and years of life lost (YLL) due to cancer have been increasing in both males and females. As a result, public health programs and research funding should be more explicitly directed towards preventing premature mortality. YLL can be a useful measure for easy comparison of different cancers by policymakers and health practitioners.