Childhood Cancers Vary Depending on Region and Sex

Could your children be more at risk to different types of cancer depending on the region you live in? A government study on just that topic has found there are numerous differences in types of cancer depending on age, race, sex and where in the United States the child lives.

It was shown that Caucasian children had the highest incidence of all types of cancers and the children in the Northeast were diagnosed with cancer more often than children in all other parts of the United States. The research also shows that boys are more likely to have a pediatric malignancy than girls, and that adolescents are more likely to have cancer than children of a younger age.

The lead author of the study and a member of the intelligence office for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDB) in Atlanta, Dr. Juan Li, said "We looked at the childhood cancer incidence rate from 2001 through 2003, and further looked at the data by age, sex, ethnicity and U.S. census region." He also stated, "We identified 36,446 cases of childhood cancer during these three years, which is about 166 per every million."

The information for the study, which represents over 90 percent of the population in the United States, was collected from 39 National Program of Cancer Registries and five Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases. The results of this study were published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics.

There were three particular cancers that account for about 60 percent of all the childhood cancers. The most common of the malignancy were Leukemia's, which affected just over 26 percent of the children with cancer. Tumors of the central nervous system, such as brain tumors, were the next most common type of childhood cancer, which affected about 17.6 percent of the children. The last most common type, which affected about 14.6 percent of the children, is Lymphomas according to this study.

Overall, the study also shows that boys are much more likely to develop cancer than girls. The cancer incidence rate for boys was 174 per one million, while the rate for girls was 157 per one million. The type of cancer that the different sexes developed also varied. The boys were more likely to develop lymphoid leukemia, hepatoblastoma, Burkitt lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, osteosarcomas, and more. The girls were more likely to have thyroid cancer, malignant melanomas, and cancers of the kidney. The cancer incident rates for adolescent's ages 15 to 19 were 210 per one million, while the rate of incidence in children under 14 were approximately 151 per one million.

The race of children most likely to have cancer was shown to be white, with an incidence rate of 173 per one million. The rate for children that were black was 18 per one million, Hispanics were 164 per one million, and Asian/ Pacific Islanders were 131 per one million. The American Indians and Alaskan natives held the lowest rates at 97 per one million.

In the study, geography appeared to also make as difference. The children in the Northeastern part of the country are most likely to develop cancers, with the incidence rate of 179 per one million. In the Midwest region, the incidence rate was 166 per one million. In the Southern region, the incidence rate was 159 per one million, and in the Western region the incidence rates were 165 per one million. The study also interestingly showed that children in the Northeast, despite having the highest rate of cancers, also had the lowest rate of deaths from pediatric cancers.

Li said that the researchers were not able to find the reasons for the differences in the study, but he does believe that the data will lay groundwork for research in the future. He also added that knowing these differences could help other scientists target their research.

Dr. Adam Levy, a pediatric hematologist, oncologist, and a director of pediatric neuro-oncology at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York city, said, " This is an interesting study, but as a practicing oncologist, I won't be advising families any differently. And, as a father of three sons, I wouldn't have any added concern as a parent living in the Northeast."

He fears that people may over-interpret this new study, and the parents really don't need the added anxiety. This study is talking about very rare pediatric cancers and very mild differences. This study gives mostly clues to epidemiological researchers clues. He concluded by stating that parents do not need to become overly worried by the information from this study.