Incidence of childhood cancer among Mexican children registered under a public medical insurance program

Abstract

Prior to 2005, 51% of children in Mexico diagnosed with cancer received no standardized optimal multidisciplinary medical care. A government-subsidized national cancer treatment program was therefore created for these patients and a National Cooperative Childhood Cancer Treatment Group was consequently formed for these patients. Pediatric patients with a proven diagnosis of leukemia, lymphoma or solid tumor and who were registered in the Popular Medical Insurance (PMI) program from January 2007 to December 2010, are described in this report. These patients had been enrolled and registered in one of the 49 nationwide certified medical institutions in Mexico. The national incidence and frequency data for childhood cancers were analyzed for the whole program. At the end of a 4-year study, the analysis revealed that 8,936 children from across Mexico had been diagnosed with cancer. The incidence rate for the PMI patients was 150.3/million/year (2010) for children of 0-18 years. The highest age incidence rate was 51.9 between 0 and 4 years and boys were the predominant group for all types of cancer. The leukemia incidence was 75.3/million/year (2010), and an average frequency of 50.75% throughout the 4 years. The overall mortality rate was measured at 5.4/100,000/year (2010). This study demonstrates a high frequency and incidence of childhood cancer and a beneficial impact of the PMI program over the quality of life in these children.