Rates of Renal, Thyroid Carcinomas Increasing in Children, Adolescents

Article

Results of a new study show that cancer rates among children and adolescents are stable, but rates of certain cancers such as renal carcinomas are increasing.

Results of a new study show that overall cancer rates among children and adolescents are stable, but that the incidence of certain cancers, including renal and thyroid carcinomas, are increasing.

“These findings highlight an opportunity to improve our knowledge of the driving factors of these cancer incidence rate trends, and this understanding may help develop new preventive measures,” wrote David A. Siegel, MD, MPH, of Emory University School of Medicine, and colleagues in Pediatrics.

Siegel and colleagues analyzed data taken from the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries to identified cancer diagnosed in patients aged 0 to 19 years between 2001 and 2009. According to the study, these registries represent 94.2% of the US population.

Using these registries, they identified 120,137 cases of cancer, with an age-adjusted incidence rate of 171.01 per million. Data showed that the incidence of cancer was higher in boys compared with girls, in adolescents compared with children, and in white children compared with black children. The most commonly occurring cancers were leukemia, followed by central nervous system neoplasms, and lymphomas.

The researchers found no significant change in the cancer incidence from 2001 to 2009 (annual percent change [APC], 0.3%; 95% CI, -0.1 to 0.7). However, they did find that the incidence of thyroid carcinoma (APC, 4.9%; 95% CI, 3.2 to 6.6) and renal carcinoma (APC, 5.4%; 95% CI, 2.8 to 8.1) had increased significantly.

“Rates of renal carcinomas, thyroid carcinomas, and other unspecified malignant neoplasms increased significantly for boys, and the trend for thyroid carcinoma increased significantly for girls,” the researchers wrote. “Increased rate of obesity among adolescents might explain increases in renal carcinomas observed overall and among those aged 15 to 19 years.”

In addition to the results about thyroid and renal carcinoma, the study also found an increasing trend in the overall cancer incidence among black children and adolescents (APC, 1.3%; 95% CI, 0.2 to 2.5). A significant decrease in melanoma was seen overall, as well as in boys, white patients, non-Hispanic patients, adolescents aged 15 to 19 years, and in the Northwest and West regions.

“It is possible that pediatric melanoma is decreasing after an increase seen at the end of the last century,” the researchers wrote. “However, melanoma is often an outpatient disease that adds registry data late into SEER and NPCR.”

Recent Videos
One of the largest obstacles to tackle in the kidney cancer landscape will be translating the research on rare kidney cancer subtypes into clinical trials.
Zanzalitinib exhibited favorable data when evaluated alone or in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibition in phase 1 RCC trials.
The investigational agent exhibited superior efficacy vs pembrolizumab in patients with lung cancer, suggesting potential efficacy in kidney cancer.
“As a community, if we’re looking to help enroll and advocate for patients with rare [kidney cancers], we need to be aware of what is out there,” said A. Ari Hakimi, MD.
Treatment with the dual inhibitor displayed a short half-life and a manageable toxicity profile in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
The annual Kidney Cancer Research Summit was born from congressional funding for kidney cancer research, according to KidneyCAN president Bryan Lewis.
Combining renal vaccines with immune therapy may better target tumor cells while limiting harm to healthy tissue, according to David A. Braun, MD, PhD.
Improving data collection and biomarker development across institutions may represent areas of expansion in kidney cancer research.
Related Content