Epidemiology of childhood cancer in Asia

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Oncology
• Global Health
• Cancer Epidemiology

Background:

• Childhood cancer affects 280,000 children globally each year, with Asia bearing a disproportionate burden.
• The World Health Organization's Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer aims for a 60% survival rate by 2030.
• Asian childhood cancer survival rates (39.6%) lag behind Europe (74.3%) and North America (83.0%).

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of childhood cancer incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in Central, Southern, Eastern, and Southeastern Asia.
• To highlight data gaps and challenges in childhood cancer data collection across Asia.
• To propose strategies for improving childhood cancer data in Asia.

Main Methods:

• Review of available data on childhood cancer incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in specified Asian regions.
• Analysis of data limitations and challenges in comparable data collection.
• Identification of potential strategies for enhancing data quality and coverage.

Main Results:

• Less than 5% of Asia's pediatric population is covered by population-based cancer registries.
• Significant disparities exist in childhood cancer incidence and survival data across Asian regions.
• Lack of comparable data hinders accurate assessment of the childhood cancer burden in Asia.

Conclusions:

• Urgent need for improved and standardized childhood cancer data collection in Asia.
• Addressing data challenges is critical to achieving global survival goals for childhood cancer.
• This study serves as the foundational paper in a series addressing childhood cancer in Asia.