Ethnic patterns of childhood cancer in Hawaii between 1960 and 1984.

Cases of childhood cancer (less than 15 years of age at diagnosis), diagnosed between 1960 and 1984, were obtained from the Hawaii Tumor Registry, a population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) participant covering the entire State of Hawaii. During the 25 years of data collection, cancer was diagnosed in 398 males and 302 females, with overall age-adjusted incidence rates of 140.5 and 112.2 per million, respectively. Leukemia was the leading cause of childhood cancer, accounting for over 1/3 of diagnoses during the study period. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated for each ethnic-sex group separately based on US white age-specific incidence rates for 1973 to 1982 from the SEER program. Overall, incidence rates for childhood cancer in Hawaii were generally similar to those found in all SEER areas.