title: Incidence and survival of retinoblastoma in The Netherlands: a register based study 1862-1995.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine the (time trends in) incidence and survival of hereditary (familial and sporadic) and non-hereditary retinoblastoma for male and female patients born in the Netherlands between 1862 and 1995.
  
  
  METHODS
  The national retinoblastoma register was updated and now consists of 955 patients. The missing dates of death were obtained from the municipal registers and the Central Bureau of Genealogy in The Hague. Mortality was compared with the Dutch vital statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 1862 to 1995 no significant differences in incidence for retinoblastoma were found in the hereditary subgroups. Further, no significant differences between males and females were found, both overall and in the hereditary subgroups. The average incidence of retinoblastoma increased until 1944, probably due to incompleteness of the register, and stabilised after 1945 (1 per 17000 live births). From 1900 to 1995 the standardised mortality ratio increased for hereditary retinoblastoma patients from 2.9 to 9.0 and decreased for non-hereditary retinoblastoma patients from 1.9 to 1.0.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although survival for retinoblastoma was significantly better after 1945 than before, in comparison with the Dutch population the mortality between 1900 and 1990 increased for the hereditary and decreased for the non-hereditary retinoblastoma patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kuik
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bouter
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Den Otter
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Bezemer
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Koten
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Imhof
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Kuyt
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D005134:Eye Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012175:Retinoblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends