Original Article
Declining Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Mortality Malcolm A. Smith, MD, PhD1; Sean F. Altekruse, DVM, PhD2; Peter C. Adamson, MD3; Gregory H. Reaman, MD4; and Nita L. Seibel, MD1
BACKGROUND: To evaluate whether progress continues in identifying more effective treatments for children and adolescents with cancer, the authors examined both overall and disease-specific childhood cancer mortality rates for the United States, focusing on data from 2000 to 2010. METHODS: Age-adjusted US mortality trends from 1975 to 2010 were estimated using joinpoint regression analysis. Analyses of annual percentage change (APC) were performed on the same diagnostic groupings for the period restricted to 2000 through 2010 for groupings ages 20% of children diagnosed with cancer still died from their disease, and many survivors experienced long-term effects that negatively affected their quality of life. In addition, for some childhood cancers, progress was very limited (eg diffuse intrinsic brainstem gliomas, high-grade gliomas, and metastatic sarcomas). Of concern, a slowing in the rate of decline in childhood cancer mortality has been described for both European and North American populations, suggesting that a plateau is being reached in the ability of childhood cancer researchers to identify more effective treatments for children with cancer.1,2 To ascertain whether progress in identifying more effective treatments for children and adolescents with cancer is continuing, we examined overall and disease-specific childhood cancer mortality rates for the United States, focusing on more recent data from 2000 to 2010. MATERIALS AND METHODS Incidence Data
Incident cases that formed the basis for the survival estimates included in this report were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 9 registries among patients who were aged
Declining Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Mortality Malcolm A. Smith, MD, PhD1; Sean F. Altekruse, DVM, PhD2; Peter C. Adamson, MD3; Gregory H. Reaman, MD4; and Nita L. Seibel, MD1
BACKGROUND: To evaluate whether progress continues in identifying more effective treatments for children and adolescents with cancer, the authors examined both overall and disease-specific childhood cancer mortality rates for the United States, focusing on data from 2000 to 2010. METHODS: Age-adjusted US mortality trends from 1975 to 2010 were estimated using joinpoint regression analysis. Analyses of annual percentage change (APC) were performed on the same diagnostic groupings for the period restricted to 2000 through 2010 for groupings ages 20% of children diagnosed with cancer still died from their disease, and many survivors experienced long-term effects that negatively affected their quality of life. In addition, for some childhood cancers, progress was very limited (eg diffuse intrinsic brainstem gliomas, high-grade gliomas, and metastatic sarcomas). Of concern, a slowing in the rate of decline in childhood cancer mortality has been described for both European and North American populations, suggesting that a plateau is being reached in the ability of childhood cancer researchers to identify more effective treatments for children with cancer.1,2 To ascertain whether progress in identifying more effective treatments for children and adolescents with cancer is continuing, we examined overall and disease-specific childhood cancer mortality rates for the United States, focusing on more recent data from 2000 to 2010. MATERIALS AND METHODS Incidence Data
Incident cases that formed the basis for the survival estimates included in this report were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 9 registries among patients who were aged
