Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1991 Sep;64(3):543–548. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1991.347

Childhood cancer and ethnic group in Britain: a United Kingdom children's Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) study.

C A Stiller 1, P A McKinney 1, K J Bunch 1, C C Bailey 1, I J Lewis 1
PMCID: PMC1977662  PMID: 1654982

Abstract

We present here the results of the largest study of childhood cancer and ethnic group in Britain, based on 7,658 children treated at paediatric oncology centres throughout the country. Incidence rates could not be calculated and so relative frequencies were analysed by the log-linear modelling method of Kaldor et al. (1990) with allowance made for regional variations in the ages and diagnostic groups of the children included in the study. Children of Asian (Indian sub-continent) and West Indian ethnic origin had similar patterns of incidence for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to White Caucasians. There was a significant excess of Hodgkin's disease among Asian children compared with Caucasians with an estimated relative risk (RR) of 2.09; this excess was greatest in the 0-4 age group (RR = 6.67). There were significant deficits of Wilms' tumour and rhabdomyosarcoma among Asian children, each with a frequency around half that among Caucasians, whereas West Indians had a significant excess of Wilms' tumour (RR = 2.55). Asian and West Indian children each had a non-significant twofold RR for unilateral retinoblastoma. The results suggest that the incidence of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is associated with environmental determinants in the country of residence which are most likely to relate to lifestyle factors. The occurrence of retinoblastoma, Wilms' tumour and Hodgkin's disease in early childhood is apparently related more to ethnicity than to geographical location and may reflect genetic factors or environmental exposures specific to the lifestyle of particular ethnic groups.

Full text

PDF
543

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Birch J. M., Marsden H. B. A classification scheme for childhood cancer. Int J Cancer. 1987 Nov 15;40(5):620–624. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910400508. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Breslow N., Beckwith J. B., Ciol M., Sharples K. Age distribution of Wilms' tumor: report from the National Wilms' Tumor Study. Cancer Res. 1988 Mar 15;48(6):1653–1657. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Glaser S. L. Black-white differences in Hodgkin's disease incidence in the United States by age, sex, histology subtype and time. Int J Epidemiol. 1991 Mar;20(1):68–75. doi: 10.1093/ije/20.1.68. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goodman M. T., Yoshizawa C. N., Kolonel L. N. Ethnic patterns of childhood cancer in Hawaii between 1960 and 1984. Cancer. 1989 Oct 15;64(8):1758–1763. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19891015)64:8<1758::aid-cncr2820640834>3.0.co;2-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Goodman M. T., Yoshizawa C. N., Kolonel L. N. Incidence trends and ethnic patterns for childhood leukaemia in Hawaii: 1960-1984. Br J Cancer. 1989 Jul;60(1):93–97. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1989.227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Greaves M. F. Speculations on the cause of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia. 1988 Feb;2(2):120–125. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gutensohn N., Cole P. Epidemiology of hodgkin's disease in the young. Int J Cancer. 1977 May 15;19(5):595–604. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910190502. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Innis M. D. Nephroblastoma: possible index cancer of childhood. Med J Aust. 1972 Jan 1;1(1):18–20. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1972.tb46675.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kaldor J., Khlat M., Parkin D. M., Shiboski S., Steinitz R. Log-linear models for cancer risk among migrants. Int J Epidemiol. 1990 Jun;19(2):233–239. doi: 10.1093/ije/19.2.233. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kramer S., Meadows A. T., Jarrett P., Evans A. E. Incidence of childhood cancer: experience of a decade in a population-based registry. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1983 Jan;70(1):49–55. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Muir K. R., Huddart S. N., Barrantes J., Parkes S. E., Mann J. R. Relative occurrence of neuroblastoma and Wilms' tumour in ethnic subgroups in the West Midlands Health Authority Region. Arch Dis Child. 1990 Dec;65(12):1380–1380. doi: 10.1136/adc.65.12.1380. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Oakhill A., Mann J. R. Poor prognosis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in Asian children living in the United Kingdom. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Mar 12;286(6368):839–841. doi: 10.1136/bmj.286.6368.839. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Parkin D. M., Stiller C. A., Draper G. J., Bieber C. A. The international incidence of childhood cancer. Int J Cancer. 1988 Oct 15;42(4):511–520. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910420408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ramot B., Magrath I. Hypothesis: the environment is a major determinant of the immunological sub-type of lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children. Br J Haematol. 1982 Feb;50(2):183–189. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1982.tb01908.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sanders B. M., Draper G. J., Kingston J. E. Retinoblastoma in Great Britain 1969-80: incidence, treatment, and survival. Br J Ophthalmol. 1988 Aug;72(8):576–583. doi: 10.1136/bjo.72.8.576. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Stiller C. A. Centralisation of treatment and survival rates for cancer. Arch Dis Child. 1988 Jan;63(1):23–30. doi: 10.1136/adc.63.1.23. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Stiller C. A., Parkin D. M. International variations in the incidence of childhood renal tumours. Br J Cancer. 1990 Dec;62(6):1026–1030. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1990.432. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Young J. L., Jr, Ries L. G., Silverberg E., Horm J. W., Miller R. W. Cancer incidence, survival, and mortality for children younger than age 15 years. Cancer. 1986 Jul 15;58(2 Suppl):598–602. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19860715)58:2+<598::aid-cncr2820581332>3.0.co;2-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES