title: Incidence and Survival of Childhood Cancer in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An epidemiologic study of childhood cancer would provide useful information on cancer etiology and development of management guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database were used to examine the incidence and survival of cancer in patients aged 0-14 years. Patients were grouped according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, 3rd edition. Age-specific and age-standardized incidences per million and estimated annual percentage change (APC) were calculated by sex and age. Five-year relative survival was calculated for four periods from 1993 to 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study comprised 15,113 patients with malignant neoplasms. Age-standardized incidence rates for all cancers were 134.9 per million children in 1999-2011 and 144.0 and 124.9 per million for males and females, respectively (M/F ratio, 1.2; p < 0.05). The highest incidences were observed for 'leukemias, myeloproliferative diseases, and myelodysplastic diseases' (group I) (46.4), 'central nervous system neoplasms' (group III) (18.3), and 'lymphomas and reticuloendothelial neoplasms' (group II) (13.4). Age-standardized incidence increased from 117.9 in 1999 to 155.3 in 2011, with an APC of 2.4% (95% confidence interval, 2.1 to 2.7). There was a significant increase of APC in 'neuroblastoma and other peripheral nervous cell tumors' (group IV) (5.6%) and 'other malignant epithelial neoplasms and malignant melanomas' (group XI) (5.6%). The 5-year relative survival rate for all childhood cancers improved significantly from 56.2% (1993-1995) to 78.2% (2007-2011) (males, 56.7% to 77.7%; females, 55.5% to 78.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides reliable information on incidence and survival trends for childhood cancer in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Oncology, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeon Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Kyeong
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Oncology, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Mo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu-Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Oncology, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Kiu
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Won
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate
keywords: Child; Incidence; Korea; Neoplasms; Survival