The impact of universal hepatitis B vaccine on the trend of liver cancer from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Abstract Aims This study aims to assess the trend of hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐attributable liver cancer as well as the impact of HBV vaccine on it. Methods We retrieved data from Global Burden Disease study to estimate trends of HBV‐attributable liver cancer by region and age from 1990 to 2017 and HBV vaccine data from World Health Organization to assess its impact on these trends for children (0‐14 years), adolescents and young adults (15‐29 years). Change of cancer cases, age‐standardized incidence rate (ASR) and estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) were used to quantify the trends of HBV‐attributable liver cancer. Results In this study, reduction in HBV‐attributable cancer incident cases was found among children (from 2080 to 1430), adolescents and young adults (from 10 890 to 9090). In terms of ASR, overall reduction was observed globally by an average of −0.45% (95% CI: −0.62 to −0.29) per year in the same period. The highest reduction in ASR was found in adolescents and young adults with EAPC of −3.02 (95% CI: −3.57 to −2.46). Although the ASR has decreased from all the five regions with universal HBV immunization programme, it has increased in the region without universal vaccination and the highest increase was found among children with EAPC of 1.97 (95% CI: 1.71‐2.23). Conclusion Significant reduction in HBV‐attributable liver cancer among children was mainly because of the universal HBV vaccination. However, the increasing trend of HBV‐attributable liver cancer in region without universal HBV vaccination suggested the necessity of introducing universal immunization.