Population-based survival for childhood cancer patients diagnosed during 2002-2005 in Shanghai, China

There have been no population-based studies on cancer survival among children aged 0-14 years in China. In this study, we aimed to characterize the cancer survival among children in Shanghai.

Childhood cancer cases registered by the Shanghai Cancer Registry between 2002 and 2005 and enrolled in the Shanghai Childhood Survival Study were included in this study. We used Kaplan-Meier product-limit method for survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models for investigating the effects of various prognostic factors.

The median follow-up time was 5.4 years (range 0-8.9 years). The 5-year observed survival for all childhood cancers combined was 55.7% (95% CI: 51.7-59.6%). For leukemia, lymphoma, and central nervous system tumors, the three most common types of childhood cancer, 5-year survival rates were 52.2%, 58.8%, and 41.2%, respectively. Higher 5-year survival rates were observed for epithelial cancer (88.9%), malignant renal tumors (86.7%), germ cell and other gonadal tumors (78.4%), and retinoblastoma (75.0%). Cancers with poor prognosis included sympathetic nervous system tumors (57.9%), soft tissue sarcoma (54.1%), bone tumors (52.6%), and liver cancer (33.3%). There were no significant differences between survival rates by gender and age groups. Compared with those reported in the USA and Europe, the survival rates for all cancers combined and the three most common types in Shanghai were lower.

The survival rate for children aged 0-14 diagnosed with cancer in Shanghai during 2002-2005 was at the medium level. There was a substantial survival difference from childhood cancers between Shanghai and specific developed countries.