Abstract

Objective: Gallbladder cancer is a deadly malignancy, the sixth gastrointestinal cancer and one of the most common cancers of the biliary tract. This study aimed at investigating the incidence and mortality rate of gallbladder cancer and its relationship with Human Development Index (HDI) in Asia in 2012. Methods: This study was an ecologic study in Asia for the assessment of the correlation between Standard Incidence Rate (SIR) and Standard Mortality Rate (SMR) with HDI and its components, which include: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (Version 15.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: Overall, 116,048 cases of gallbladder cancer have been recorded in Asian countries in 2012. Countries with the highest SIR per 100,000 were Republic of Korea (6.5), Lao PDR (4.8), Japan (4.7), Nepal (4.3), Bangladesh (4.2) and the highest SMR were observed in Republic of Korea (4.8), Lao PDR (4.7), Nepal (4.1), Bangladesh (4), and Japan (3.9). There was a positive correlation between the SIR of Gallbladder cancer and HDI (r = 0.032, p = 0.832), whereas there was a negative correlation between the SMR of Gallbladder cancer and HDI (r = -0.117, p = 0.438). Conclusions: Countries that have the highest SIR and SMR of gallbladder cancer do not have HDI levels associated with them since they span the ranks of countries with very high, medium, and low HDIs. A significant relationship was not observed between the SIR and SMR of gallbladder cancer and the HDI.