Childhood Cancers by Geographic Region
A study done by researchers at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and published in the June issue of Pediatrics concluded that there are substantial regional differences in the occurrence of childhood cancer. It also demonstrated that other factors such as age, race and gender also influence child cancer rates.
Researchers with the CDC in Atlanta identified and studied nearly 36,500 cases of childhood cancer to determine how a patient's physical characteristics (demographic information) and place of residence (geographic information) may play a role in the overall frequency of the disease. The cases were sorted by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and geography.
From the data studied they learned that the chances of being diagnosed with childhood cancer were:
- Northeast: 179.12 per million
- Midwest: 165.50 per million
- West: 165.26 per million
- South: 158.65 per million
In other findings it was learned that boys are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with lymphoid leukemia while kidney cancer, thyroid cancer and malignant melanomas were more common for the girls. It was also learned that cancer was more prevalent in whites than any other race, that teens from 15 to 19 were diagnosed more frequently than children under age 14.
Researchers hope that this study will assist in better understanding and tracking of childhood cancers.
