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Paediatric malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract in the West Midlands, UK, 1957–2000: A large population based survey
Author(s) -
Hameed R.,
Parkes Sheila,
Davies P.,
Morland B. J.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.20086
Subject(s) - medicine , gastrointestinal tract , population , pediatrics , environmental health
Background To investigate the incidence, clinical characteristics and survival of malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract in children in the West Midlands in Britain over a 44‐year span time, to identify any change over this period and to compare the data with the world literature. Procedure Retrospective population based study. Fifty‐seven patients were identified from the records of the West Midlands Regional Children's Tumour Registry. Age‐standardised incidence rates were calculated using the world standardised population method. Statistical tests used were the Log rank test and survival curves were produced using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results The age‐standardised incidence of overall gut tumours during the period 1957–2000 was 1.10/million/year. The age standardised incidence of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was calculated as 0.9/million/year and for adenocarcinoma 0.14/million/year. Conclusion Malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract remain rare in children. No changing trends in incidence were observed over the 44‐year period. NHL was the commonest malignancy overall and of the small bowel while equal number of adenocarcinoma and NHL were identified in the large bowel. There was no significant difference in survival between sexes, site and age groups in both NHL and adenocarcinoma. Survival has improved over the last four decades for NHL patients but remains poor for the adenocarcinoma patients. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.