Patterns and trends of cancer incidence in children and adolescents in China, 2011-2015: A population-based cancer registry study

Background Cancer is a major concern for children and adolescents worldwide. This study aims to report on cancer incidence patterns at age 0-19 years in 2011-2015 and their trends in 2000-2015. Methods We collected data on malignancies in population of 0-19 years submitted by high-quality population-based cancer registries in China. Age-standardized rates by world standard population (WSR) and annual percent change (APC) were calculated. Results In total, 215 cancer registries from 30 provinces contributed datasets during 2011-2015. Twenty-two registries provided continuous data for trend analysis from 2000 to 2015. In total 16,954 malignancies occurred in 177,416,582 person-years. WSRs were 93.32 and 96.03 per million person-years in children aged 0-14 and 0-19 years. Incidence rates were higher in boys than in girls and were higher in urban area than in rural area. In children aged 0-14 years, the top three common diagnostic groups were leukemia, central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and lymphomas in both sexes. In adolescents aged 15-19 years, the top three common diagnostic groups were leukemia, epithelial tumors and melanoma, and CNS tumors in boys and epithelial tumors and melanoma, leukemia, and germ cell and gonadal tumors in girls. WSRs for cancers in 0-19 years of age increased significantly in boys from 2000 to 2005 (APC = 5.3%, 95% CI: 2.3%-8.3%) and in girls from 2000 to 2015 (APC = 1.2%, 95% CI: 0.1%-2.4%). Conclusions Cancer incidence in children and adolescents is on the rise in China. The observed age, sex, and geographical variations in cancer incidence should be used to inform targeted prevention and control policies.