Bone tumours in European children and adolescents, 1978–1997. Report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project

Data on 5572 children and adolescents diagnosed with malignant bone tumours (International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Group VIII) before the age of 20 years during 1978–1997 in Europe were extracted from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System (ACCIS) database. Age-standardised incidence among children during the period 1988–1997 was similar for boys and girls aged 0–14 years (5.5–5.6 per million). Among adolescents aged 15–19 years, males had higher incidence (19.3 per million) than females (10.7 per million). Among children, osteosarcoma accounted for 51% of registrations and Ewing’s sarcoma for 41%. Among adolescents, 55% of registrations were osteosarcoma and 28% Ewing’s sarcoma. Both tumours had their highest incidence in late childhood or early adolescence. There were no significant time trends in incidence during 1978–1997. Five-year survival estimates for patients diagnosed during 1988–1997 were, respectively, 59% and 51% among children and adolescents with osteosarcoma and 62% and 30% among children and adolescents with Ewing’s sarcoma. Between 1978–1982 and 1993–1997, survival increased for both children and adolescents with osteosarcoma, and for children with Ewing’s sarcoma.