BRAIN, OTHER CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM, AND EYE CANCER

Background. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Pro gram provides population-based data for the descriptive epidemiology o f cancer incidence and survival rates by age, sex, race, and time peri od according to site and various histologic categories. Methods. Relat ive frequencies, incidence rates, median age at diagnosis, and 5-year relative survival rates were analyzed by histologic type for microscop ically confirmed primary malignant tumors of the brain, central nervou s system (CNS) (except lymphomas), and eye, as well as olfactory neuro blastomas. Results. Age-specific incidence rates for astrocytoma and g lioblastoma, along with those for malignant meningioma, rose with incr easing age up to 70-74 years, whereas rates for ependymoma and medullo blastoma (but not oligodendroglioma) showed a peak at age 0-4 years. A ge-adjusted incidence rates for astrocytomas and glioblastomas were lo wer for blacks compared with whites, but there was little difference f or rare types of brain/CNS cancers. Age-adjusted incidence rates incre ased slightly from 1973-1977 to 1983-1987 for astrocytoma, with little change for other histologic types. For cases diagnosed in 1983-1987, 5-year relative survival rates varied by histologic type and were low for astrocytoma, not otherwise specified (32%), and especially low for glioblastoma (4%); there was no evidence for improvement in survival rates for these two types from 1973-1977 to 1983-1987. Age-specific ra tes for eye melanoma rose with increasing age (especially for males), and age-adjusted rates were higher for whites than for blacks and decl ined from 1973-1977 to 1983-1987 in whites. Among cases diagnosed in 1 983-1987, 5-year relative survival fates were high for melanoma of the eye (79%) and retinoblastoma (96%); only for retinoblastoma was there evidence of improvement in survival rates between 1973-1977 and 1983- 1987. Conclusions. The SEER data are useful in examining the descripti ve epidemiologic features, including time trends in incidence and surv ival rates, for primary cancers of the brain, CNS and eye. The lack of improvement in the low survival rates for some of these cancers empha sizes the remaining therapeutic challenges.