Childhood Cancer Facts and Figures

Incidence

• The overall incidence of childhood cancer has remained relatively stable from 1985-2004, varying from 144 to 159 per 1,000,000 children.
• Incidence rates are highest among young children, aged 0 to 4 years. Rates are lower and similar for children aged 5 to 9 and 10 to 14. Lymphoma rates increase with age, while rates for neuroblastoma (cancers of the sympathetic nervous system) peak prior to age one and become very rare after the age of five. Overall, childhood cancer occurs more commonly in males than in females. For every newly diagnosed female with cancer, there are 1.2 males. The largest differences by sex are lymphomas (ratio of male to female new cases, 2.1 to 1) and hepatic tumours (ratio of male to female new cases, 1.4 to 1).

Mortality

• During the period 1985-2004, there was a dramatic decline in childhood cancer mortality. Linear trends observed statistically significant decreases in the Age Standardized Mortality Rates (ASMR) for all cancers and each of the selected cancers examined (p<0.05).

Survival

• Over 82% of children with cancer survive at least 5 years after diagnosis. For all childhood cancers combined the five-year Observed Survival Proportions (OSP) from 1999 to 2003 was estimated to be 82%. The corresponding one- and three-year survival proportions were 92% and 85%, respectively. Within specific diagnostic groups, the highest five-year OSPs were observed for retinoblastoma (99%), renal tumours (92%), lymphomas (89%), and germ cell tumours (89%) while the lowest were seen in neuroblastoma (70%) and malignant bone tumours (72%).

* Data source is from the Canadian Cancer Registry Database (Orius system)