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Background: The rising burden of thyroid cancer (TC) is a public health problem in Asia. Predicting the future burden of TC in Asian countries is essential for disease prevention., Methods: Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 for five Asian countries. We applied Bayesian age-period-cohort models to predict morbidity and mortality to 2035 and calculated age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR). Furthermore, the estimated annual percentage change was calculated to evaluate the variation of ASIR and ASMR., Results: By 2035, predictions suggest that cases of TC will reach 75.56 × 10 3 in China, 70.22 × 10 3 in India, 15.78 × 10 3 in the Republic of Korea, 9.01 × 10 3 in Japan and 5.55 × 10 3 in Thailand, respectively. Except Japan, a significant upward trend of ASIR of TC will be observed in five Asian countries. The deaths from TC will increase in five countries and India will become the highest reaching 14.07 × 10 3 . The ASMR will rise to 0.83/100 000 in India and 1.06/100 000 in the Republic of Korea, while it will drop to 0.35/100 000 in China, 0.43/100 000 in Japan and 0.50/100 000 in Thailand. In further predictions projected by sex, the growth rate of ASIR is reported higher in males than in females among most countries. ASMR of male will exceed that of females in China and Thailand by 2035., Conclusion: The disease burden caused by TC will further increase in five Asian countries, especially for men. It is necessary to develop more rational and timely disease prevention and manage strategies facing this disease trend., (© 2023 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Objective: To analyze the disease burden of pancreatic cancer in major Asian countries and forecast the burden of that in China, which helps to provide reference for the prevention and control of pancreatic cancer. Methods: Data on disease burden of pancreatic cancer among global and major Asian countries from on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 were collected to describe burden distribution through the absolute numbers or standardized rates of incidence, death and disability adjusted life years (DALY) by year, sex and socio-demographic index. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) was used to assess the trend of standardized rate. The proportion of deaths attributable to risk factors for pancreatic cancer in 2019 was used to compare by age, sex and region. ARIMA model was performed with R language to predict change of age-standardized incidence and death rates of pancreatic cancer from 2020 to 2029. Results: From 1990 to 2019, the standardized incidence rates of pancreatic cancer in China increased from 3.17/100 000 to 5.78/100 000, and the standardized death rate increased from 3.34/100 000 to 5.99/100 000. The increases exceeded other high-income Asia countries. In the past three decades, the standardized incidence, death and DALY rates of pancreatic cancer in global have increased year by year. Among the major countries in Asia, China has the highest growth rate of disease burden (EAPC of standardized incidence rates=2.32%, 95% CI: 2.10%-2.48% and EAPC of standardized death rate=2.25%, 95% CI: 2.03%-2.42%). In addition, incidence and death rates of pancreatic cancer in China are expected to continue on the rise between 2000 and 2029 by ARIMA model. Incidence rate is expected to increase 15.92% and death rate is expected to increase 15.86%. Conclusions: The standardized incidence and death rates of pancreatic cancer in China increase year by year with an increasing trend for the burden of disease. The disease burden of pancreatic cancer is expected to rise due to the increase and aging of the population. Preventive measures should be adopted to decrease the burden of the pancreatic cancer.

Assessing the changes of the population living throughout the most seismically hazardous area (MSHA) constitutes an important foundation for seismic risk assessment. However, the changes of the population living in the MSHA of Asia, which exhibits the highest number of earthquake related fatalities, were poorly understood. Therefore, this study analyzed the changes of the population in the MSHA between 2000 and 2015 at the continental, subcontinental, and national scales. We found that the population, especially the vulnerable population (i.e., children under or equal to the age of 14 and elderly people over or equal to the age of 65), in Asia's MSHA increased rapidly between 2000 and 2015. The population in the MSHA increased by 185.88 million with a growth rate of 20.93%, which was 3.38% greater than that in the non-MSHA region. Meanwhile, the vulnerable population in the MSHA increased by 63.65 million with a growth rate of 19.73%. The increase of the vulnerable population in the MSHA was 19.93% greater than that in the non-MSHA region. We also found that urban population growth was a major factor impacting the increase in both the population and the vulnerable population throughout Asia's MSHA. Therefore, attention should be paid to the changes of the population in Asia's MSHA, whilst it is imperative to execute strict building codes and select the development location more carefully in the MSHA.

Cardiac glands (CG), along with oxyntocardiac glands, in a normal human constitute cardiac mucosa (CM) that is positioned in the proximal stomach with a length of 10-30 mm, according to traditional teaching. This doctrine has been recently challenged. On the basis of studies on autopsy and biopsy materials in the esophagogastric junction region, some investigators have reported the presence of CG in only 50% of the general US population. They believed that CG were an acquired, metaplastic lesion as a result of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Subsequent recent study results from other research groups showed the presence of CG in the proximal stomach in embryos, fetuses, pediatric, and adult patients in most Europeans and Americans, and almost all Japanese and Chinese patients. These new data showed the following important findings: (i) CG are confirmed to be congenital in the proximal stomach; (ii) the length of CM is much shorter, approximately 5 mm in Caucasians in Europe and North America, and approximately 13 mm in Japanese and probably also in Chinese; (iii) CG are also present in the distal superficial esophagus underneath squamous mucosa in almost all Japanese and Chinese patients, but not so common in Caucasians in Europe, and not clear in Caucasians in North America. The recent data indicate a clear difference in the distribution of CG in the proximal stomach among different ethnic populations, and might explain different disease pathogenesis mechanisms among various ethnic patient groups., (© 2011 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicities of erlotinib as first-line treatment for Asian elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)., Patients and Methods: Untreated patients with advanced NSCLC were included in this study; erlotinib was orally administered at a dose of 150 mg daily until disease progression or intolerable toxicity or for other reasons., Results: A total of 35 patients were enrolled. Patient characteristics were as follows: mean age 75.6 years (ranged 70-81 years), 24 (68.6%) male, 16 (45.7%) former or current smokers, 13 (37.1%) adenocarcinoma, 18 (51.4%) squamous cell carcinoma and 4 (11.4%) bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. Out of 35 patients, 1 CR, 16 PR and 10 SD, resulting in an overall response rate (CR + PR) of 48.6% and disease control rate (DCR = CR + PR + SD) of 77.1%. The median TTP was 6.4 months, and the median OS was 12.7 months. The CBR was 80%, and the 1-year survival rate was 48.6%. The most common adverse event (AE) was mild skin rash and diarrhea (CTC AE 1/2). Among them, the female never smokers with a non-squamous cell carcinoma histology was superior to the male smokers with a squamous cell carcinoma in disease control rate, with significant differences (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The results suggest that erlotinib monotherapy is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for Asian elderly patients with advanced NSCLC.