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. 2023 Jan;12(2):1903-1911.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.5009. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

Global incidence, mortality and temporal trends of cancer in children: A joinpoint regression analysis

Junjie Huang  1 , Sze Chai Chan  1 , Chun Ho Ngai  1 , Veeleah Lok  2 , Lin Zhang  3   4 , Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno 3rd  5 , Wanghong Xu  6 , Zhi-Jie Zheng  7 , Edmar Elcarte  8 , Mellissa Withers  9 , Martin C S Wong  1   4   7 ; NCD Global Health Research Group, Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU)
Affiliations

Global incidence, mortality and temporal trends of cancer in children: A joinpoint regression analysis

Junjie Huang et al. Cancer Med. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Background/methods: The Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Time Trends, Nordic Cancer Registries, Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results, WHO Mortality databases were assessed to extract the Age-Standardised Rates (ASR) of cancer incidence and mortality among children aged 0-14 years old. By using the ASRs, the country-specific Average Annual Percentage Change (AAPC) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to determine the epidemiological cancer trend.

Results: In 2020, the highest incidence of childhood cancer was found in countries with higher Human Development Index (HDI) (ASR = 15.7), yet the highest mortality was found in countries with lower HDIs (ASR = 4.8). As for incidence, seven countries had positive AAPC among boys; Slovakia (AAPC2001-2010 = 4.98, 95% CI [1.66-8.40]), Ecuador (AAPC2003-2012 = 4.07, 95% CI [0.67-7.59]) and Thailand (AAPC2003-2012 = 3.69, 95% CI [0.37-7.11]) had the highest AAPC. Among girls, three countries had positive AAPC, which included Belarus (AAPC2003-2012 = 3.18, 95% CI [1.11, 5.29]), Canada (AAPC2003-2012 = 2.83, 95% CI [1.60, 4.07]) and Korea (AAPC2003-2012 = 1.76, 95% CI [0.23-3.32]). There was an overall decreasing trend of mortality. However, increased mortality was observed in two countries: Ecuador for boys (AAPC2007-2016 = 1.72, 95% CI [0.27-3.19]) and Austria for girls (AAPC2008-2017 = 4.11, 95% CI [0.38-7.98]).

Conclusions: The largest mortality and mortality to incidence ratio of childhood cancer were found in low-income countries. There was a substantial increasing trend of childhood cancer incidence, while overall its mortality has been decreasing over the past decade. More studies are needed to confirm the drivers behind these epidemiologic trends.

Keywords: cancer; childhood; epidemiology; incidence; mortality; temporal trend.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Global estimated burden of childhood cancer, both sexes, aged 0–14 years old, in 2020.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
AAPC of childhood cancer incidence in subjects aged −14 years old.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
AAPC of childhood cancer mortality in subjects aged −14 years old.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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