title: Socioeconomic status and global variations in the incidence of neuroblastoma: call for support of population-based cancer registries in low-middle-income countries.
abstract: Global variations in the incidence of pediatric cancers have been described; however, the causes of such differences are not known. We investigated the relationship between the incidence of embryonal tumors and human development index on a global scale. Increasing incidence of neuroblastoma correlates significantly with an increasing index of human development, with greater incidence among countries with high socioeconomic development, in apparent contrast to the incidence of retinoblastoma. While more data are needed to corroborate this observation, our findings suggest new avenues for etiological research and serve as a call for support of population-based cancer registries in low-middle-income countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Junne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kamihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Clement
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Benjamin Bloom National Children's Hospital, San Salvador, El Salvador.
authors.forename: Soad Linneth
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Fuentes Alabi
authors.affiliation: National Pediatric Oncology Unit, Francisco Marroquin Medical School, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: A Lindsay
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Galindo
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Pediatrics (Division of Oncology), Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Manuela A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Orjuela
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health / Q000639:trends*; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011203:Poverty; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012175:Retinoblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012923:Social Class
keywords: cancer registries; neuroblastoma; pediatric oncology; socioeconomic status