SURVIVAL OF CHILDHOOD-CANCER PATIENTS IN ITALY, 1978-1989

the framework of the ITACARE project, a cooperative investigation cond ucted on the data from the Italian population-based cancer registries, survival of patients with childhood malignant neoplasms was studied. The study included 1,768 cases diagnosed at age 0-14 plus 29 osteosarc oma cases diagnosed at age 15-19. Cases were collected over the period 1978-1989, or more limited periods for some participating registries. A total of 1,138 cases were from the Childhood Cancer Registry of Pie dmont and 659 from the registries operating in the provinces of Varese , Parma, Modena, Forli and Ravenna, Florence, Latina, Ragusa and in th e cities of Geneva and Torino (the last contributed only for bone neop lasm diagnosed at age 15-19). Overall 5-year survival was 54% for mali gnancies diagnosed in 1978-1981, 60% for the period 1982-1985, and 69% for the period 1986-1989. The range among registries of 5-year surviv al for cases diagnosed in 1986-1989 was 55-78%. Most diagnostic catego ries presented an improved prognosis for the cases diagnosed more rece ntly. For cases diagnosed in 1986-1989, 5-year survival was: 74% for a cute lymphatic leukaemia, 40% for acute non-lymphatic leukaemia, 65% f or central nervous system neoplasms (76% for astrocytoma, 75% for epen dymoma and 85% for medulloblastoma), 66% for osteosarcoma, 55% for Ewi ng's sarcoma, 87% for Hodgkin's disease, 64% for non-Hodgkin's lymphom a, 74% for rhabdomyosarcoma, 64% for neuroblastoma, 78% for nephroblas toma and 100% for retinoblastoma. Italian survival was similar to that observed in other population-based surveys in the UK and USA.