Brain cancer deaths in children

Brain cancer has replaced leukemia as the leading cause of cancer death among US children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The news comes from a report on cancer death rates in young people from 1999 to 2014 issued today by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

In 1999, the rate of cancer death by site was 29.7% for leukemia and 23.7% for brain cancer. In 2014, these death rates reversed, with 24.9% for leukemia and 29.9% for brain cancer. The difference in the percentages between the two cancer types at the beginning and end of the study period was statistically significant (P < .05).

As of 2014, other common sites of cancer-related deaths among US children and adolescents were bone and articular cartilage (10.1%), thyroid and other endocrine glands (9.0%), and mesothelial and soft tissue (7.7%).

Since the mid-1970s, cancer death rates among children and adolescents have shown "marked declines," observe the report authors, led by Sally Curtin, MA, from the Division of Vital Statistics.

The same held true for the new study period. The overall cancer death rate declined by 20% during 1999 to 2014, from 2.85 to 2.28 per 100,000 population. The decline occurred in all 5-year age groups, with the drops ranging from 14% to 26%.

The study authors speculate that "major therapeutic advances" in treating some forms of cancer, particularly leukemia, may have resulted in increased survivorship and the decreased death rate.

More than half of all cancer deaths among US children and adolescents from 1999 to 2014 were attributable to leukemia or brain cancer. That has been the case for a long time. These two cancer types combined accounted for 53.4% of all child and teen cancer deaths in 1999 and 54.8% in 2014.

In a finding that is rarely present in adult cancers, parity in cancer death rates was observed between both white and black children and teens, with both groups experiencing declines during the study period.

Cancer death rates continued to be higher for young males compared with their female counterparts.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/868864