Italian cancer figures, report 2012: Cancer in children and adolescents

This study describes up-to-date cancer incidence and survival in Italian paediatric and adolescent patients, based on data collected by the network of Italian cancer registries (AIRTUM). It updates the monograph published on the same topic in 2008. The main objective of this monograph is to present the statistics according to standard rigorous epidemiological methods and disseminate them to a wide range of readers, including the lay public. Given the deep impact of the 2008 monograph on the general public, in this update we complement descriptive statistics with additional data and commentaries on issues of importance for public health, in order to provide unambiguous criteria on how to interpret the statistics. The study is the result of the collaboration between AIRTUM and AIEOP (Italian Association of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology) with contributions from interested parties, including representatives of parent associations. The monograph is divided into three parts. The first part presents incidence rates, survival probabilities, and time trends, by sex, age, geographical area, and cancer site or type, by means of tables and graphs as in the previous monograph, to facilitate direct comparisons. Four articles summarize and comment the results. The second part uses data from AIRTUM and AIEOP to outline patient management and health care issues; it includes estimates of the number of new cases in the next decade and of young adults living after a paediatric cancer diagnosis. Health organizational aspects of treatment services for paediatric patients, based on the AIEOP database, are also discussed, along with long-term complications in cured patients. The third section describes the changes in mortality trends due to improving therapies and healthcare services, and discusses risk factors and prevention of childhood cancer, late adverse events in cured patients, and other related issues.