Years of life lost as a measure of cancer burden on a national level

Background: The severity of cancers is often measured in number of deaths. However, number of years of life lost (YLL) may be a more appropriate indicator of impact on society. Here we have calculated the YLL of adult cancers in Norway for the year 2012, as well as for the previous 15-year period. Methods: Data on age composition, expected remaining years of life, total numbers of deaths and deaths due to cancer were retrieved from the National Census Agency Statistics Norway. YLL were calculated for both sexes aged 25-99 years based on each individual's age at death, and the expected remaining years of life at that age. Results: Cancer deaths represented 25.8% of all adult deaths in 2012, with a lower fraction of females (28.7% in men and 23.1% in women), whereas cancer represented 35.2% of all YLL, with a higher fraction of females (32.8% in men and 37.8% in women). Females loose on average more life years to cancer than men (14.9 vs 12.7 years). Average YLL varied from 23.7 (cervical cancer) to 7.9 (prostate cancer). Lung cancer caused almost as many YLL alone (22.1% of cancer-caused YLL) as colon, prostate and breast cancer combined (23.1%). From 1997 to 2012, cancer-caused YLL as a fraction of all YLL increased from 32.5% to 35.2%, but with major differences among diagnoses. Conclusions: Cancer is a major and increasing cause of premature deaths, and YLL may be a more accurate measure than number of deaths. Public health efforts and research funding should be explicitly directed at preventing premature deaths.