# Fitzmaurice 2017: the Global Burden of Disease estimate of cancer in 2015

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-fitzmaurice-gbd-cancer-2015-jamaoncol-2017/  
OnCo record `paper-fitzmaurice-gbd-cancer-2015-jamaoncol-2017` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The Global Burden of Disease collaboration's count for 2015: about 17.5 million new cancer cases worldwide, with cases rising by a third over the previous decade mostly because populations were growing and ageing, and lung cancer the largest cause of years of life lost to cancer.

## Summary

The Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration estimated incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability and disability-adjusted life-years for 32 cancer groups in 195 countries for 2015 and the trend since 2005. It counted about 17.5 million cases and 8.7 million deaths. Cases increased by 33% between 2005 and 2015, of which most was attributable to population ageing and growth rather than to rising age-specific rates. Tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer disability-adjusted life-years globally.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Journal: JAMA Oncology
- Year: 2017
- DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.5688
- Authors: Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration; Fitzmaurice C, Allen C, et al.
- Findings: About 17.5 million cancer cases and 8.7 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2015.; Cases rose 33% from 2005 to 2015: about 16% from population ageing, 13% from population growth and 4% from changing age-specific rates.; Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer disability-adjusted life-years; cancer was the second leading cause of death worldwide.
- What it means: GBD is the other major global cancer count alongside GLOBOCAN, using different methods, and its burden measures in years of life lost make the case that cancer control is largely a problem of ageing populations in middle-income countries.
- Caveats: Modelled estimates with wide uncertainty where registry data are sparse.; GBD and GLOBOCAN figures differ because of methods, so they should not be mixed in one comparison.

## Sources

- Full text (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.5688
- GBD results tool: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/

## Connected records

- key papers: [Bray 2018: GLOBOCAN 2018, worldwide incidence and mortality for 36 cancers](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bray-globocan-2018-cacancer-2018/), [Sung 2021: GLOBOCAN 2020, the year breast cancer overtook lung cancer as the most diagnosed cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sung-globocan-2020-cacancer-2021/)
- cancers: [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- terms: [Incidence versus prevalence](https://onco.cc/terms/incidence-vs-prevalence/), [Mortality](https://onco.cc/terms/mortality/)
- technologies: [Cancer registries and population surveillance](https://onco.cc/technologies/cancer-registries-surveillance/)

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