Stage at diagnosis for childhood solid cancers in Australia: A population-based study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Oncology
• Cancer Epidemiology
• Survival Analysis

Background:

• Cancer stage at diagnosis is a critical predictor of survival and essential for cancer surveillance and control strategies.
• Understanding stage distribution and survival is vital for improving outcomes in childhood cancers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the distribution of childhood solid cancer cases by stage at diagnosis in Australia.
• To analyze differences in stage-specific survival for a range of childhood solid cancers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Australian Childhood Cancer Registry (2006-2014) for children (<15 years) with 12 solid malignancies.
• Assigned cancer stage using the Toronto Paediatric Cancer Stage Guidelines.
• Calculated observed survival using the Kaplan-Meier method with mortality follow-up to December 2015.

Main Results:

• 71% of children were diagnosed with localized or regional disease, with significant variation by cancer type (e.g., 43% for neuroblastoma to 99% for retinoblastoma).
• Five-year observed survival differences by stage were substantial for osteosarcoma, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and medulloblastoma.
• For example, localized osteosarcoma had 85% survival versus 37% for metastatic disease.

Conclusions:

• Stage-specific data provides a basis for international comparisons of childhood cancer registries.
• Understanding survival variations by stage is crucial for developing targeted initiatives to improve outcomes for children with cancer.