Survival of children with cancer in Italy, 1989-98. A report from the hospital based registry of the Italian Association of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (AIEOP)

We describe the survival patterns of 10,791 Italian children (age 0–14) diagnosed with cancerduring 1989–1998 and who were included in the hospital-based registry of the Italian Associationof Paediatric Haematology and Oncology. Five-year cumulative survival percentageswere 76% for lymphoproliferative disorders and 68% for solid tumours. Survival rates in1994–1998 significantly improved for acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL), acute non-lymphocyticleukaemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Wilms’ tumour. Gender and age were determinantsof survival for some specific types of cancer. Girls with ALL and neuroblastomaexhibited a significant advantage (hazard ratio HR 0.72, 0.62–0.83) and disadvantage (HR0.73, 0.59–0.90) over boys, respectively. Children with a Wilms’ tumour diagnosed aboveage 3 had a worse prognosis than younger children (HR 2.3, 1.4–4.1). The persisting genderrelateddifference in survival rate for ALL requires understanding as to whether it is attributableto delays in the adoption of more recent therapeutic protocols, while the correspondingfindings forWilms’ tumour and neuroblastoma deserve further biological interpretation