Incidence of childhood cancer in Cuba (1986-1990).

Cancer is an infrequent disease in childhood. However, it is responsible for 13.06% of child deaths between 1 and 14 years in Cuba. The aim of our work was to describe the incidence of childhood cancer in the period 1986 to 1990 using data reported to the National Cancer Registry (NCR) of Cuba. All cancer cases between 0 and 14 years of age reported to the NCR in the period 1986 to 1990, were included. The cases were classified histologically, by age and gender. Average age-specific and age-standardized rates were calculated; 1428 children were registered, an average of 286 each year, with a mean annual rate of 117.8 per million. The world-population standardized rate was 120.7 and the male-to-female ratio was 0.98. Leukaemias, lymphomas and malignant tumours of the central nervous system were the most common childhood neoplasm groups. The majority of leukaemias were acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALL), and the incidence peak extended until 6 years of age. The first peak of incidence of Hodgkin's disease is found in older age-groups. Burkitt's lymphoma showed a male-to-female ratio of 0.44. Most of the hepatic tumours were carcinomas, and only one fourth were hepatoblastomas. In bone tumours, similar rates were observed for osteosarcomas and Ewing's sarcoma.