DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD CANCERS IN BANGALORE, INDIA

While fairly complete and reliable incident data on childhood cancers are available from the registries in India, mortality and survival inf ormation is not. Information concerning the latter was obtained by the Bangalore cancer registry through active follow-up involving visits t o homes of patients. Between 1982 and 1989, 617 cases of cancers in ch ildhood were registered, giving an age-standardized incidence rate of 84.8 and 48.4 per million in male and female children, respectively. A ctive follow-up provided mortality/survival information in 532 or 86.2 percent of these cases. Overall, observed five-year survival was 36.8 percent (both genders combined) with a relative survival of 37.5 perc ent when childhood mortality in the general population was taken into account. The five-year relative survival was best for thyroid carcinom a (100 percent) followed by Hodgkin's disease (73 percent) and retinob lastoma (72.9 percent). Survival was comparatively low,being 9.9 perce nt in acute nonlymphatic leukemia and less than 20 percent in rhabdomy osarcoma and the category grouped as 'other malignant neoplasms.' Surv ival in Hodgkin's disease was influenced by clinical stage at presenta tion, but was not statistically significant possibly due to small numb ers.