title: Childhood central nervous system tumours--incidence and survival in Europe (1978-1997): report from Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project.
abstract: This paper describes the incidence and survival of childhood central nervous system (CNS) tumours in Europe for the period 1978-1997. A total of 19,531 cases, aged 0-14 years, from the ACCIS database were analysed by five regions: the British Isles, East, North, South, and West. Overall age-standardised incidence rate (ASR) of CNS tumours in Europe (1988-1997) was 29.9 per million, with the highest rates in the North. Astrocytoma (ASR=11.8), primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNET) (ASR=6.5) and ependymoma (ASR=3.4) were the most frequent types. Incidence increased significantly during 1978-1997, on average by 1.7% per year. Diagnostic methods may partially explain incidence rates and trends, although a role of variations in risk factors cannot be excluded. Overall 5-year survival was 64% and varied between 72% in the North and 53% in the East. PNET had the poorest prognosis (49%) and astrocytoma the best (75%). Survival has improved by 29% since late 1970s. The positive trends were seen in all regions, although the interregional differences persisted, as a reflection of the different healthcare systems.
authors.affiliation: National Childhood Cancer Registry, Spain (RNTI-SEOP) and Instituto López Piñero (CSIC-Universitat de València), Faculty of Medicine, Avd. Blasco Ibáñez, 15, 46010-Valencia, Spain. rafael.peris@uv.es
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peris-Bonet
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez-García
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lacour
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petrovich
authors.forename: Begoña
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giner-Ripoll
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navajas
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Steliarova-Foucher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016019:Survival Analysis