Abstract 271: Rising rates of acute lymphocytic leukemia in Hispanic children: A review of trends in childhood leukemia incidence from 1973-2010

Abstract

Abstract Background: Childhood leukemia is the most common cancer in children under 20 years of age in the United States, and incidence rates have increased over the last few decades. The incidence rate for all childhood leukemia is higher among Hispanic children [2006-2010 age-adjusted incidence rate (AAIR)= 5.71; 95%CI: 5.47, 5.97] than among non-Hispanic White children (2006-2010 AAIR=3.95; 95%CI: 3.81, 4.09). This analysis aims to describe secular trends from 1992-2010 in the incidence of childhood leukemia, independently for Hispanic and non-Hispanic children. Methods: Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) data were used to evaluate trends in the incidence of childhood leukemia diagnosed in children less than 20 years of age between 1992-2010 by ethnicity. Trends among Hispanic and non-Hispanic children were examined overall and by age, gender, and histologic subtype. AAIRs, annual percent change (APC) estimates, and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated using SEER*stat v.8.0.4. Results: Hispanic children were more likely than non-Hispanic children to be diagnosed with leukemia (all subtypes combined), and with acute lymphocytic leukemia when examined by gender and by age (0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 years at diagnosis). A greater increase in AAIRs was observed for Hispanic children as compared to non-Hispanic children for all types of leukemia from 1992-2010 (APCHispanic=1.16; 95%CI: 0.55, 1.76; APCnon-Hispanic=0.52; 95%CI: 0.01, 1.03). When restricting to acute lymphocytic leukemias (ALL), statistically significant increases were observed for Hispanic children (APC=1.31; 95%CI:0.68, 1.94), but not for non-Hispanic children (APC=0.50; 95%CI: -0.19, 1.19). Among Hispanic children, the strongest increase was found among children diagnosed from 10-19 years of age. Incidence rates were higher for Hispanic males (AAIR=5.26; 95%CI: 4.93, 5.60;) than for Hispanic females (AAIR=4.07; 95%CI: 3.78, 4.39). Conclusion: Incidence rates of childhood leukemia rose from 1992-2010, with the greatest increase for ALL among older Hispanic children (aged 10-19 years). In future studies aimed at evaluating exposures responsible for increasing incidence rates of childhood ALL, researchers should consider risk factors that may explain the rising rates among Hispanic children. Citation Format: Jessica Barrington-Trimis, Myles Cockburn, Catherine Metayer, W. James Gauderman, Joseph Wiemels, Roberta McKean-Cowdin. Rising rates of acute lymphocytic leukemia in Hispanic children: A review of trends in childhood leukemia incidence from 1973-2010. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 271. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-271