Objective To analyze the epidemiological trends and major risk attribution of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019.

Methods The descriptive epidemiological method was conducted. The overall incidence rate, mortality rate, age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019 were collected from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Database. Age-standardized rates were calculated based on the worldwide standardized population structure provided by GBD Database 2019. Observation indicators: (1) incidence and motality of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea in 2019; (2) age-period-cohort model analysis of incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019; (3) trends of ASIR and ASMR of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019; (4) trends of major risk attribution of pancreatic cancer related death in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019. Count data were represented as absolute numbers, percentages and ratios. Joinpoint V.4.7.0.0 software was used to calculate the annual percentage change (APC), the average annual percentage change (AAPC) of incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer in different time periods and 95% confidence interval (95%CI). The age-period-cohort model in STATA V.15.0 software was used to analyze the influence of different ages, periods and birth cohorts on the risk of onset and death of pancreatic cancer after controlling the other two variables, with the risk effect size described as relative risk (95%CI).

Results (1) Incidence and motality of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea in 2019. In 2019, the incidence rate of pancreatic cancer in China increased from 0.07/100,000 among 15-19 years old to 64.01/100,000 among 85-89 years old, with increasing from 0.09/100,000 to 94.71/100,000 in males and from 0.04/100,000 to 47.47/100,000 in females. The mortality rate of pancreatic cancer in China increased from 0.04/100,000 among 15-19 years old to 79.58/100,000 among 85-89 years old, with increasing from 0.05/100,000 to 116.50/100,000 in males and from 0.03/100,000 to 59.69/100,000 in females. The incidence rate of pancreatic cancer in Japan increased from 0.03/100,000 among 15-19 years old to 162.26/100,000 among 85-89 years old, with increasing from 0.03/100,000 to 177.67/100,000 in males and from 0.04/100,000 to 153.67/100,000 in females. The mortality rate of pancreatic cancer in Japan increased from 0.02/100,000 among 15-19 years old to 154.88/100,000 among 85-89 years old, with increasing from 0.02/100,000 to 170.93/100,000 in males and from 0.02/100,000 to 145.94/100,000 in females. The incidence rate of pancreatic cancer in South Korea increased from 0.04/100,000 among 15-19 years old to 136.78/100,000 among 85-89 years old, with increasing from 0.03/100,000 to 153.78/100,000 in males and from 0.04/100,000 to 129.73/100,000 in females. The mortality rate of pancreatic cancer in South Korea increased from 0.02/100,000 among 15-19 years old to 135.98/100,000 among 85-89 years old, with increasing from 0.02/100,000 to 156.21/100,000 in males and from 0.02/100,000 to 127.59/100,000 in females. The peak incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer in China were found in males aged 65-69 years, and the overall incidence and mortality of males in different age groups were higher than those of females in the same age group. In Japan, the peak incidence of pancreatic cancer occurred in females aged 80-84 years and the peak mortality occurred in males aged 75-79 years. The morbidity and mortality of males aged <80 years were higher than those of females in the same age group, while the morbidity and mortality of males aged ≥80 years were lower than those of females in the same age group. In South Korea, the peak incidence of pancreatic cancer occurred in females aged 80-84 years, and the peak mortality occurred in males aged 70-74 years. The morbidity and mortality of males aged <75 years were higher than those of females in the same age group, while the morbidity and mortality of males aged ≥75 years were lower than those of females in the same age group. (2) Age-period-cohort model analysis of incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019. Age effect: after adjustment for the period and cohort effects, the risk of incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer in both males and females of China, Japan and South Korea increased with age, which is more obvious in females than males, and more obvious in Japanese than Chinese and Korean populations. Period effect: after adjustment for age and cohort effects, the risk of incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer in both males and females of China, Japan and South Korea increased from 1990 to 2019, with the period effect more significant in the Chinese population. Cohort effect: after adjustment for age and period effects, the risk of morbidity and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer decreased with the passage of birth cohort in China, Japan and South Korea. (3) Trends of ASIR and ASMR of pancreatic cancer in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019. The ASIR and ASMR of pancreatic cancer in China increased yearly from 1990 to 2019, and the ASIR and ASMR in 2019 were 1.82 times and 1.79 times those in 1990, respectively. The ASIR and ASMR of pancreatic cancer in Japan showed a slowly increasing trend, and the ASIR and ASMR in 2019 were 1.09 times and 1.05 times those in 1990, respectively. The ASIR and ASMR of pancreatic cancer in South Korea increased firstly, then decreased, and slowly increased. From 1990 to 2019, the AAPC of ASIR of pancreatic cancer in China was 2.08% (95%CI as 1.91% to 2.24%, P<0.05) and AAPC of ASMR was 2.02% (95%CI as 1.86% to 2.19%, P<0.05). The AAPC of ASIR of pancreatic cancer in Japan was 0.28% (95%CI as 0.15% to 0.42%, P<0.05) and AAPC of ASMR was 0.13% (95%CI as 0.03% to 0.24%, P<0.05). The AAPC of ASIR of pancreatic cancer in South Korea was 0.50% (95%CI as 0.21% to 0.80%, P<0.05) and AAPC of ASMR was 0.15% (95%CI as -0.10% to 0.40%, P>0.05). (4) Trends of major risk attribution of pancreatic cancer related death in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019. The main risk factors for pancreatic cancer related death in China, Japan and South Korea from 1990 to 2019 were smoking, high fasting glucose and high body mass index (BMI). The trend of pancreatic cancer related death, mainly attributed to smoking, showed that the proportion of Chinese males increased from 31.4% in 1990 to 34.1% in 2000, then decreased to 31.1% in 2015, and then showed a slow increase to 31.7% in 2019. The proportion of Chinese females increased from 6.7% in 1990 to 10.4% in 2005 and then dropped to 8.7% in 2019. The proportion of Japanese males decreased from 38.8% in 1990 to 26.9% in 2019 and the proportion of Japanese females decreased from 20.9% in 1990 to 14.8% in 2019. The proportion of South Korean males decreased from 37.5% in 1990 to 30.3% in 2019 and the proportion of South Korean females decreased from 12.6% in 1990 to 10.0% in 2019. The trend of pancreatic cancer related death proportion, mainly attributed to high fasting blood glucose, showed that the proportion of Chinese males increased from 5.9% in 1990 to 7.1% in 2019 and the propor-tion of Chinese females increased from 6.2% in 1990 to 6.8% in 2019. The proportion of Japanese males increased from 7.0% in 1990 to 7.7% in 2019 and the proportion of females increased from 5.0% in 1990 to 5.5% in 2019. The proportion of South Korean males increased from 6.8% in 1990 to 9.7% in 2019 and the proportion of females increased from 6.1% in 1990 to 8.2% in 2019. The trend of pancreatic cancer related deaths proportion, attributed mainly to high BMI, showed that the proportion of Chinese males increased from 1.3% in 1990 to 3.0% in 2019 and the proportion of females increased from 2.1% in 1990 to 4.3% in 2019. The proportion of Japanese males increased from 2.0% in 1990 to 2.4% in 2019 and the proportion of females increased from 3.1% in 1990 to 3.4% in 2019. The proportion of South Korean males increased from 1.9% in 1990 to 3.1% in 2019 and the proportion of females increased from 3.4% in 1990 to 4.3% in 2019.

Conclusions The incidence of pancreatic cancer in China may continue to rise but to be stable in Japan and South Korea. The incidence of pancreatic cancer in females, especially elderly women, needs more attention. Smoking remains the most critical risk factor for pancreatic cancer. More attention should also be paid to the increased risk of pancreatic cancer associated with high BMI and high fasting plasma glucose.