INCIDENCE OF CANCER IN CHILDREN IN THE UNITED-STATES - SEX-SPECIFIC, RACE-SPECIFIC, AND 1-YEAR AGE-SPECIFIC RATES BY HISTOLOGIC TYPE

Background. Rates of cancer in children usually are presented in 5-yea r age groups, despite large variations of incidence within these group s. The purpose of this report is to provide histology-specific inciden ce rates within single-year age groups, stratified by sex and race, am ong children. Methods. Data from the National Cancer Institute's SEER Program were used to calculate incidence rates among children younger than 15 years of age at diagnosis. The SEER population denominator fil e was modified to allow calculation of rates within single years of ag e. Results. Large differences in rates within 5-year age groups were f ound for many histologic types. Retinoblastoma and Wilms' tumor, for i nstance, had up to eight-fold differences. Substantial differences als o were observed for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, neuroblastoma, Hodgkin's d isease, acute lymphoid leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and osteosarc oma. In general, rates were higher among males than females, although female rates were often higher among young children. Rates of white ch ildren were generally higher than those of black children, especially during the first 5 years of life. Embryonal tumors comprised the major ity of neoplasms during the first 2 years of life. Conclusion. Importa nt demographic patterns of cancer incidence in children are obscured w hen data are summarized into 5-year age groups.