The Leukaemia Research Fund Data Collection Study: descriptive epidemiology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

This paper reports on cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) recorded by a specialist registry of hematopoietic malignancies. The cases have been diagnosed since January 1, 1984, and originate from certain parts of the United Kingdom. The information is analyzed by age, sex, and area of residence at diagnosis. The age distribution shows a childhood peak but fails to show an adult peak previously reported in literature from abroad. At a broad geographic level the county of Cumbria is shown to display the highest rates of ALL in all ages both in the 3 years of formal analyses (1984-1986) and in the 2 recent years. The administrative districts of Copeland, Sedgemoor, and North Devon also show excesses in all ages with Copeland having the highest SRR and level of statistical significance. This is a new observation for Copeland, the district containing the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility in that the high rates are for all ages of ALL. These new data were not considered in earlier official reports about that area. A regression analysis at electoral ward level shows no statistically significant association but excesses of cases, which are mirrored in a larger "all leukemias" data set, occur in wards near estuaries (a new observation) and in the upper socioeconomic groups.