Incidence of cancer in children in the United States. Sex-, race-, and 1-year age-specific rates by histologic type.
BACKGROUND
Rates of cancer in children usually are presented in 5-year age groups, despite large variations of incidence within these groups. The purpose of this report is to provide histology-specific incidence rates within single-year age groups, stratified by sex and race, among 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 file was modified to allow calculation of rates within single years of age.


RESULTS
Large differences in rates within 5-year age groups were found for many histologic types. Retinoblastoma and Wilms' tumor, for instance, had up to eight-fold differences. Substantial differences also were observed for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, neuroblastoma, Hodgkin's disease, acute lymphoid leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and osteosarcoma. In general, rates were higher among males than females, although female rates were often higher among young children. Rates of white children were generally higher than those of black children, especially during the first 5 years of life. Embryonal tumors comprised the majority of neoplasms during the first 2 years of life.
Gurney
J G
JG
Michigan Cancer Foundation, Division of Epidemiology, Detroit 48201, USA.
Severson
R K
RK
Davis
S
S
Robison
L L
LL
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018426:SEER Program; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology