Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Global patterns of leukemia by subtype, age, and sex in 185 countries in 2022

Leukemia volume 39, pages 412–419 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

In 2022, leukemia ranked as the second most common hematological malignancy after non-Hodgkin lymphoma worldwide. However, updated global estimates of leukemia incidence by subtype are unavailable. We estimated leukemia incidences for different leukemia subtypes by country, world region, and human developmental index using data from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents databases combined with the GLOBOCAN 2022 estimates of leukemia in 185 countries. We estimated sex-specific age-standardized rates (ASRs) per 100 000 for children (0–19 years) and adults (20+ years). In adults, the most common leukemia worldwide was AML (males: 38%, ASR = 3·1; females: 43%, ASR = 2·4), followed by CLL (males: 28%, ASR = 2·2; females: 24%, ASR = 1·3). In very high HDI countries, the ASR of CLL was higher than the ASR of AML among males (5·2 versus 4·3, respectively) and similar among females (2·9 and 3·0, respectively). In children, the most common leukemia was ALL (boys: 70%, ASR = 2·4; girls: 68%, ASR = 1·8) followed by AML (boys: 22%, ASR = 0·76; girls: 25%, ASR = 0·65). ALL proportions varied across world sub-regions from 57 to 78% among boys, and from 49 to 80% among girls. Our findings suggest clear geographical patterns of leukemia subtypes in adults and children. Further research into underlying causes that explain these variations is needed to support cancer control strategies for prevention and plan national healthcare needs.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Global patterns of leukemia by age, sex, and subtype.
Fig. 2: Estimated distribution of incident cases of leukemia subtypes in 14 world areas in 2022, by sex for adults and children.
Fig. 3: Estimated age-standardized (world) incidence rates of leukemia per 100,000 in 2022 by subtype and sex for adults aged 20 years and above.
Fig. 4: Estimated age-standardized (world) incidence rates of leukemia per 100,000 in 2022 by subtype and sex for children aged 0–19 years.
Fig. 5: Leukemia age-standardized (World) incidence versus mortality rates per 100,000 in 2022 by level of Human Development Index, both sexes combined.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data used for the analyses are available from the Cancer Incidence in Five Countries databases and the GLOBOCAN 2022 database, https://gco.iarc.fr/en.

References

  1. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Laversanne M, Colombet M, Mery L, et al. (2024). Global cancer observatory: cancer today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer.

  2. Miranda-Filho A, Pineros M, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Monnereau A, Bray F. Epidemiological patterns of leukaemia in 184 countries: a population-based study. Lancet Haematol. 2018;5:e14–e24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Steliarova-Foucher E, Colombet M, Ries LAG, Moreno F, Doyla A, Bray F, et al. International incidence of childhood cancer, 2001-10: a population-based registry study. Lancet Oncol. 2017;18:719–31.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Bispo JAB, Pinheiro PS, Kobetz EK. Epidemiology and etiology of leukemia and lymphoma. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2020;10:a034819.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Erdmann F, Kielkowski D, Schonfeld SJ, Kellett P, Stanulla M, Dickens C, et al. Childhood cancer incidence patterns by race, sex and age for 2000-2006: a report from the South African National Cancer Registry. Int J Cancer. 2015;136:2628–39.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lamb M, Painter D, Howell D, Barrans S, Cargo C, de Tute R, et al. Lymphoid blood cancers, incidence and survival 2005-2023: A report from the UK’s Haematological Malignancy Research Network. Cancer Epidemiol. 2024;88:102513.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Sant M, Allemani C, Tereanu C, De Angelis R, Capocaccia R, Visser O, et al. Incidence of hematologic malignancies in Europe by morphologic subtype: results of the HAEMACARE project. Blood. 2010;116:3724–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Marcos-Gragera R, Galceran J, Martos C, de Munain AL, Vicente-Raneda M, Navarro C, et al. Incidence and survival time trends for Spanish children and adolescents with leukaemia from 1983 to 2007. Clin Transl Oncol. 2017;19:301–16.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Solans M, Osca-Gelis G, Comas R, Roncero JM, Gallardo D, Marcos-Gragera R, et al. Challenges in assessing the real incidence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia: 16 years of epidemiological data from the province of Girona, Spain. Cancer causes control : CCC. 2018;29:379–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Trallero J, Sanvisens A, Almela Vich F, Jeghalef El Karoni N, Saez Lloret I. Incidence and time trends of childhood hematological neoplasms: a 36-year population-based study in the southern European context, 1983-2018. Front Oncol. 2023;13:1197850.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Soerjomataram I, et al. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024.

  12. Bray F, Colombet M, Aitken JF, Bardot A, Eser S, Galceran J, et al. (2023), Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, XII (IARC CancerBase No. 19). Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer. https://ci5.iarc.who.int.

  13. UNDP. Human Development Report 2020. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) 2020.

  14. Ward ZJ, Yeh JM, Bhakta N, Frazier AL, Atun R. Estimating the total incidence of global childhood cancer: a simulation-based analysis. Lancet Oncol. 2019;20:483–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Smith A, Howell D, Patmore R, Jack A, Roman E. Incidence of haematological malignancy by sub-type: a report from the Haematological Malignancy Research Network. Br J Cancer. 2011;105:1684–92.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration, Fitzmaurice C, Akinyemiju TF, Al Lami FH, Alam T, Alizadeh-Navaei R, et al. Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2016: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study. JAMA Oncol. 2018;4:1553–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Schmidt JA, Hornhardt S, Erdmann F, Sánchez-García I, Fischer U, Schüz J, et al. Risk factors for childhood leukemia: radiation and beyond. Front Public health. 2021;9:805757.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Yang S, Varghese AM, Sood N, Chiattone C, Akinola NO, Huang X, et al. Ethnic and geographic diversity of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Leukemia. 2021;35:433–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhao Y, Wang Y, Ma S. Racial differences in four leukemia subtypes: comprehensive descriptive epidemiology. Sci Rep. 2018;8:548.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Hallek M, Shanafelt TD, Eichhorst B. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Lancet (Lond, Engl). 2018;391:1524–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. DiNardo CD, Erba HP, Freeman SD, Wei AH. Acute myeloid leukaemia. Lancet (Lond, Engl). 2023;401:2073–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Feurstein S, Drazer M, Godley LA. Germline predisposition to hematopoietic malignancies. Hum Mol Genet. 2021;30:R225–r35.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Eden T. Aetiology of childhood leukaemia. Cancer Treat Rev. 2010;36:286–97.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Lim JY, Bhatia S, Robison LL, Yang JJ. Genomics of racial and ethnic disparities in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer. 2014;120:955–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Gupta S, Dai Y, Chen Z, Winestone LE, Teachey DT, Bona K, et al. Racial and ethnic disparities in childhood and young adult acute lymphocytic leukaemia: secondary analyses of eight Children’s Oncology Group cohort trials. Lancet Haematol. 2023;10:e129–e41.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Greaves M. A causal mechanism for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Nat Rev Cancer. 2018;18:471–84.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. He JR, Ramakrishnan R, Hirst JE, Bonaventure A, Francis SS, Paltiel O, et al. Maternal infection in pregnancy and childhood leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Pediatr. 2020;217:98–109.e8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Bloom M, Maciaszek JL, Clark ME, Pui CH, Nichols KE. Recent advances in genetic predisposition to pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Expert Rev Hematol. 2020;13:55–70.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, Harewood R, Matz M, Nikšić M, et al. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000-14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37 513 025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries. Lancet (Lond, Engl). 2018;391:1023–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. WHO report on cancer: setting priorities, investing wisely and providing care for all. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.

  31. Bray F, Parkin DM. Cancer in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020: a review of current estimates of the national burden, data gaps, and future needs. Lancet Oncol. 2022;23:719–28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen (PhD research fellowship). We thank all the cancer registries who contributed data to the Cancer Incidence in Five Countries and/or GLOBOCAN 2022.

Funding

The work was funded by The International Agency for Research on Cancer and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Surveillance Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

    Dagrun S. Daltveit, Eileen Morgan, Murielle Colombet, Eva Steliarova-Foucher & Isabelle Soerjomataram

  2. Section for Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Dagrun S. Daltveit

  3. Casablanca Cancer Registry, Ibn Rochd Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco

    Karima Bendahhou

  4. CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health CIBERESP ISCIII, Madrid, Spain

    Rafael Marcos-Gragera

  5. Epidemiology Unit and Girona Cancer Registry, Oncology Coordination Plan, Department of Health, Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI-CERCA), Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, Girona, Spain

    Rafael Marcos-Gragera

  6. National Central Cancer Registry, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    Zheng Rongshou

  7. Epidemiology and Cancer Statistics Group, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK

    Alexandra Smith

  8. Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China

    Hui Wei

Authors
  1. Dagrun S. Daltveit
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eileen Morgan
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Murielle Colombet
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eva Steliarova-Foucher
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Karima Bendahhou
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rafael Marcos-Gragera
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Zheng Rongshou
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Alexandra Smith
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hui Wei
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Isabelle Soerjomataram
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

IS, EM, and DSD designed and planned the study with support from AS. MC prepared the data. DSD performed the data analyses and wrote the first draft of the manuscript with support from IS and EM. All authors had access to data, interpreted the results, revised the manuscript, and were responsible for the final decision to submit for publication. Where authors are identified as personnel of the International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization, the authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy, or views of the International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dagrun S. Daltveit.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study uses anonymized and aggregated data publicly available in open-access repositories. Thus, ethical approval is not required.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Daltveit, D.S., Morgan, E., Colombet, M. et al. Global patterns of leukemia by subtype, age, and sex in 185 countries in 2022. Leukemia 39, 412–419 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-024-02452-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-024-02452-y

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links