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Cancer Incidence and Survival Trends among Infants in the United States from 1975 to 2014
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  • Haijun Wang,
  • Maria Carmenza Mejia ,
  • Sandra Gonzalez,
  • Roger Zoorob,
  • Weiwen Chai,
  • Xianglin Du
Haijun Wang
Baylor College of Medicine

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Maria Carmenza Mejia
Baylor College of Medicine
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Sandra Gonzalez
Baylor College of Medicine
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Roger Zoorob
Baylor College of Medicine
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Weiwen Chai
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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Xianglin Du
University of Texas School of Public Health
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Abstract

Background: Cancer among infants (<1 year old) has unique epidemiologic, clinical and genetic characteristics compared with cancer in older children. Nonetheless, data on secular trends in infant cancer incidence and survival in the US is sparse. Methods: Population-based data from Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER 9) was used to estimate the incidence, average annual percentage change (APC) for trends and survival of malignant neoplasm among infants from 1975-2014. Data were stratified by gender, race, registry and cancer type. Results: There were 3,437 new infant cancer cases with an overall incidence of 23.6/100,000. Neuroblastoma was the most common infant malignancy (6.5/100,000), followed by leukemia (3.8/100,000), and brain and central nervous system tumors (3.3/100,000). The incidence rate increased significantly over the observational period (APC 0.68; 95%CI 0.30-1.06; p<0.05). Variations in overall incidence rates were uneven across SEER registry geographic areas, with the lowest rates among both males and females in New Mexico. Relative to other racial distribution, rates were highest among whites. The relative survival rates improved over time for all tumors except for renal, sarcomas and germ cell and were not significantly different by gender or race. Conclusions: Cancer incidence among infants increased over time largely driven by leukemia, germ cell and sarcoma mainly among male infants. The overall survival for infant cancer has improved over the years especially since 1990 for hepatic tumors, lymphoma and leukemia. Further research is needed to explore the potential impacts of genetic, environmental, and perinatal factors for possible explanations for these increased cancer incidence trends.
29 Jun 2020Submitted to Pediatric Blood & Cancer
29 Jun 2020Submission Checks Completed
29 Jun 2020Assigned to Editor
05 Jul 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
31 Jul 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
02 Aug 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Major
23 Nov 2020Submission Checks Completed
23 Nov 2020Assigned to Editor
23 Nov 20201st Revision Received
13 Dec 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
04 Jan 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
07 Jan 2021Editorial Decision: Accept
20 Jan 2021Published in Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 10.1002/pbc.28917