Descriptive epidemiology of malignant and nonmalignant primary spinal cord, spinal meninges, and cauda equina tumors, United States, 2004-2007.
BACKGROUND
Primary tumors of the spinal cord, spinal meninges, and cauda equina are relatively rare, and a paucity of population-based data exist on tumors in these sites. This study intends to augment the current literature by examining incidence of these tumors on a national level.


METHODS
Data from central cancer registries in the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) programs for 2004-2007 (covering 99.2% of US population) and 1999-2007 (covering 89.4% of US population) were analyzed. Analyses for diagnosis years 2004-2007 included cases of malignant and nonmalignant primary spinal cord, spinal meninges, and cauda equina tumors. Descriptive statistics including estimated age-adjusted incidence rates standardized to the 2000 US standard population were conducted for both malignant and nonmalignant primary spinal tumors from cases diagnosed during 2004-2007 as well as trend analyses on malignant cases of primary spinal tumors (n = 5103) for cases diagnosed during 1999-2007 using SEER Stat 6.6.2 software.


RESULTS
There were 2576 cases of malignant primary spinal tumors and 9136 cases of nonmalignant primary spinal tumors in 2004-2007. The incidence of malignant and nonmalignant primary spinal tumors combined differed by age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Results of trend analyses indicated that malignant primary spinal tumors have been stable throughout the 1999-2007 period.


CONCLUSIONS
This large population-based study adds new insights into the descriptive epidemiology of primary spinal cord, spinal meninges, and cauda equina tumors by providing in-depth analyses of the incidence of these tumors on a national level.
Cancer Surveillance Branch, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. lduong@cdc.gov
Linh M
LM
Duong
Bridget J
BJ
McCarthy
Roger E
RE
McLendon
Therese A
TA
Dolecek
Carol
C
Kruchko
Lynda L
LL
Douglas
Umed A
UA
Ajani
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002420:Cauda Equina; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010524:Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult