Abstract
Incidence and mortality rates for neuroblastoma in Britain from 1971 onwards were examined using data from the populatin-based National Registry of Childhood Tumours. Incidence throughout 1971-1990 was within the range previously reported from Europe, North America and Oceania. The age-standardised rate rose, however, by 26% between 1971-1975 and 1986-1990, and there were increases of 36% both among infants aged under one year and also among children aged 1-9. There was a pattern of increasing risk with more recent years of birth up to 1985. It is implausible that improved diagnosis could explain the increase in rates since 1971, though it may account for a marked decrease in recorded incidence at the age of 10-14. Age-standardised mortality fell by 27% between 1971-1975 and 1981-1985, but rose again during 1986-1990. This was the result of a halt in the improvement in survival rates for neuroblastoma combined with a substantial and as yet unexplained increase in incidence.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1008-1012 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | European Journal of Cancer |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1993 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements---I am grateful to the many consultants and general practitioners who provided information on which this paper is based, to the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency of the Scottish Health Service, the Registrar General for Scotland, regional cancer registries and the UKCCSG for providing notifications of childhood cancer cases and also to the National Health Service Central Registers at Southport and Edinburgh for notification of deaths. I thank my many colleagues for their work on the National Registry of Childhood Tumours, in particular Mrs M.B. Allen, Dr E.L. Lennox and Mr M.J. Loach, and Mrs E.M. Roberts for secretarial help. An earlier version of this paper was prepared for the Medical Research Council Expert Group on Neuroblastoma Screening. The Childhood Cancer Research Group is supported by the Department of Health, the Scottish Home and Health Department and the Cancer Research Campaign.
