The epidemiology of Cancer among adolescents

To review the international literature on adolescent cancer epidemiology. The Medline database was searched to obtain all papers on adolescent cancer epidemiology published during a period of 15 years (1985-1999). Time, place, and person variables were analyzed, as well as their relationships. Few papers on adolescent cancer epidemiology were found, likely due to the difficulty in registering cancer cases in the 12 to 18 year-old group. Either the 10-14 or the 15-19 year-old group has been analyzed in different studies; but the latter is more representative of teenagers. A higher incidence rate was found in this group (117.3 and 202.2 x 10(6) respectively). The main malignancies in the 15-19 year-old group were central nervous system tumors (CNST), leukemias, lymphomas, bone tumors, germ-cell tumors, and carcinomas. Incidence rates were higher in males and whites; an increasing trend was observed. Cancer mortality in this group is decreasing in the United States (2.0 or 3.2% per year). Survival is increasing in all groups of neoplasms. No data were available on cancer incidence in the 15-19 year-old group in Mexico: data were available only for the 10-14 year-old group. The main neoplasms are leukemias, lymphomas, bone tumors, and CNST (rates were 41.9, 29.9, 12.0, and 10.0 x 10(6), respectively). The mortality rate for the 1990-1994 period was 64.1 and the main neoplasms were leukemias, CNST, and lymphomas. More studies are needed to address the descriptive epidemiology of cancer in teenagers.