title: Liver cancer in European children: incidence and survival, 1978-1997. Report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project.
abstract: Data on 849 children diagnosed with malignant hepatic tumours (International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Group VII) before the age of 15 years during 1978-1997 in Europe were extracted from the ACCIS database. Age-standardised incidence during 1988-1997 was 1.5 per million overall, 1.2 per million for hepatoblastoma and 0.2 per million for hepatic carcinoma. Over 90% of cases of hepatoblastoma occurred before age 5 years, whereas hepatic carcinoma had a fairly flat age distribution. Both tumours had an incidence in boys of 1.5-1.6 times that in girls. There were no significant time trends in incidence during 1978-1997. Five-year survival from hepatoblastoma diagnosed during 1988-1997 was 63% overall, and ranged from 52% in Eastern Europe to 84% in the North. Survival from hepatic carcinoma was much lower (37%). Between 1978-1982 and 1993-1997, 5-year survival (95% confidence interval (95% CI)) increased from 28% (95% CI 18-39) to 66% (95% CI 55-74) for hepatoblastoma and from 17% (95% CI 6-33) to 50% (95% CI 26-70) for hepatic carcinoma. These increases reflect the impact of advances in treatment of childhood liver cancer at a population level.
authors.affiliation: Childhood Cancer Research Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, 57 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HJ, UK. charles.stiller@ccrg.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Stiller
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Steliarova-Foucher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; 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; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors