Non-Hodgkin lymphoma incidence and survival in European children and adolescents (1978-1997): Report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project.

Abstract Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) constitute a large and heterogeneous group of malignant tumours. This paper describes and interprets geographical patterns (1988-1997) and time trends (1978-1997) of NHL incidence and survival in European children and adolescents. All 7702 lymphomas that were not Hodgkin's, were extracted from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System (ACCIS) database and included in different analyses. In children under 15 years of age and for the period 1988-1997, the overall NHL age-adjusted incidence rate was 9.4 per million and has been increasing over 20 years by 0.9% per year on average (P=0.002). In adolescents aged 15-19 years, the age-specific incidence rate was 15.9 per million, increasing annually by 1.7% (P=0.007). Five-year survival of children diagnosed in 1988-1997 was 77%, ranging from 58% in the East to 83% in the West. A substantial increase in survival was observed in all European regions. Systematic monitoring and evaluation of childhood and adolescent data on NHL will contribute to further improvement in public health policy for the young population of Europe.