[Epidemiology of primary tumors of the central nervous system in children and adolescents. A population-based study].

The incidence of primary CNS tumours in children and adolescents (0-20 years of age) was investigated for the time period 1970-1989 using the records of the East German National Cancer Registry. 2906 such tumors were registered. 93.2% of them were histopathologically confirmed. The incidence was 31.0/1,000,000 for the male and 25.9 for the female population. 2719 (93.6% of all tumours) were intracranially and only 187 (6.4%) intraspinally situated. The incidence of the CNS tumours increased during the time period of the investigation. This increase was more pronounced in the male and less in the female population. The most common tumour types were gliomas (38.7% of all registered CNS tumours), medulloblastomas (14.0%) and ependymomas (10.9%). 130 primary CNS tumours occurred in infants (less than 1 year of age). Among these tumours were 21 ependymomas and 21 choroid plexus tumours.