Abstract
BackgroundWith the growing threat of cancer to children’s health, it is necessary to analyze characteristics and trends of childhood cancer to formulate better cancer prevention strategies.MethodsData on the 430 children with cancer during 2002–2015 were collected from the Pudong Cancer Registry, diagnosed with the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology and categorized according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer. The incidence rate, trends over time, and survival of patients grouped by sex, age, and region were explored using the Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression, and Joinpoint Regression models.ResultsThe crude childhood cancer incidence and world age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) were 115.1/1,000,000 and 116.3/1,000,000 person-years. The two most frequent cancers were leukemia (136/430, 31.63%, ASR, 37.8/1,000,000 person-years) and central nervous system (CNS) tumors (86/430, 20.00%, ASR, 22.9/1,000,000 person-years). Our findings indicate that the survival rate for children between 10 and 15 years of age was higher than that for 5–10; and the survival rate for children who had leukemia was higher than that of children with CNS tumors. However, the overall incidence of childhood cancer, and leukemia, CNS tumors remained relatively stable in Pudong between 2002 and 2015.ConclusionsThe incidence and survival rate for childhood cancer patients varied by age and cancer type. The overall trends of childhood cancer incidence remained relatively stable in Pudong from 2002 to 2015 even though socioeconomic development has been unprecedentedly fast in this region.
Highlights
With the growing threat of cancer to children’s health, it is necessary to analyze characteristics and trends of childhood cancer to formulate better cancer prevention strategies
The number of cases for central nervous system (CNS) tumors was highest for children aged 5 to 10 and lowest for children aged under 5
CNS tumors were more common in male than in female as well, with a gender ratio of 1.21
Summary
With the growing threat of cancer to children’s health, it is necessary to analyze characteristics and trends of childhood cancer to formulate better cancer prevention strategies. The mortality pattern of childhood cancer has changed in the majority of developed countries and survival rates have significantly improved due to advanced medical technology, it remains the second most common cause of death (following accidents) for the pediatric population [1]. Limited data is available on the characteristics and trends of childhood cancer in China, for rapidly developing areas like Pudong. As the epitome of China’s development, Pudong is a unique and valuable place for analyzing characteristics and trends of childhood cancer and exploring effective strategies to control and prevent this disease
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