title: Cancer in adolescents: Incidences and trends during 1995-2009 in Taiwan.
abstract: This study aimed to describe cancer incidence rates and trends specifically for adolescents aged 15-19 years during 1995-2009 in Taiwan. The incidence counts and census data were obtained from the population-based Taiwan Cancer Registry. During the 15-year study period, 4122 adolescents were diagnosed with cancer. The overall incidence rate was 155.2 per million person-years. Other epithelial tumors were the most frequently diagnosed cancer group (23.7%), followed by leukemias (18.0%) and lymphomas (13.9%). When compared to rates in Western countries, a significantly low rate of lymphomas was found. Moreover, rates of the subtypes of melanomas and nasopharyngeal carcinomas being 1/10- and 4-times rates in Western countries were the most striking variations. During 1995-2009, the overall rate of adolescent cancer did not significantly change. However, the most significant upward and declining trends in incidence rates were found for male germ cell neoplasms (annual percent change, APC, 6.4%) and hepatic tumors (APC, -11.1%), respectively. Further investigation and enhancement of the public discourse of possible lifestyle and environmental risk factors associated with increasing trends of certain adolescent cancers should be carried out in Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Giun-Yi
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Veterans General Hospital Hsinchu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chao-Chun
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiun-Lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Horng
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: linly@ntnu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Li-Yih
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescents; Cancer incidence; Cancer registry; Cancer trends; Taiwan