[Cancer in children from Mexico City]

In the Federal District (FD) of Mexico, a total of 1175 new cases of childhood cancer were registered between 1996 and 2007. These cases demonstrated the North American/European pattern for neoplasias, with the order of incidence being leukemias (44.1%), tumors of the central nervous system (13.5%), and lymphomas (12.0%). The overall incidence was 131.6 (all rates per 1000 000 children/year). The male/female ratio was 1.2 and the incidence was greater for those less than five years of age. The southwestern and southeastern zones of the FD had the highest incidences (170.0 and 145.2, respectively). The FD was unique among the jurisdictions under study in that non-Hodgkin lymphomas were recorded for children under one year of age (incidence: 4.1). Of the five jurisdictions studied, the highest frequency (2.5%) and incidence (3.7) of liver tumors in children were found in the FD. The incidence showed a tendency to decrease over the years. The solid tumors (55.4 %) were diagnosed in Ill or IV stage.