AYA leukemia incidence varies by subtype, sex and country

Researchers estimated age-standardised leukemia incidence and mortality rates among adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) in 186 countries using GLOBOCAN 2024 data. They also analyzed subtype-specific incidence trends from 2003 to 2017 using Cancer Incidence in Five Continents data, applying joinpoint regression to estimate average annual percentage changes for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and leukemia of unspecified cell type.

An estimated 65,291 new cases occurred worldwide in 2024, with an age-standardised incidence rate of 2.12 per 100,000. ALL incidence increased significantly in both sexes in Canada and the Republic of Korea, and in selected sex-country groups in Denmark, the Netherlands, India, and Colombia. AML incidence rose significantly among males in Colombia and the Republic of Korea, while CML incidence increased in both sexes in the Republic of Korea and the UK, among males in Japan, and among females in Canada. These descriptive findings highlight geographic and sex-related variation; they do not establish causes or explain changes in access to diagnosis. The analysis relies on modeled global estimates and registry data from selected settings, so trends should not be assumed to apply uniformly across countries.