Recent trends in incidence and mortality rates for leukemias, and in survival rates for childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia, in upstate New York

Analysis of mortality rates for all childhood (age less than 20 years) leukemias in upstate New York showed declines between 1969-1971 and 1978-1980 for ages 0-4 and 5-9 years, while data from a population-based cancer registry for a population of about 10.5 million indicated no decline in incidence rates. Survival rates were examined for 552 children diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in 1973-1980 at less than 15 years of age. There was some evidence for improvement in survival rates over these years of diagnosis, especially among children diagnosed at ages 1-4 and 10-14 years. Hazard rates increased among cases (especially males) diagnosed in 1979 and 1980, however, and this finding requires confirmation from other studies; the possible effect of influenza epidemics also should be explored. Only one confirmed second primary cancer, a rhabdomyosarcoma of the eye, was ascertained (as of the end of 1983), but longer follow-up is needed on children with ALL.