Cancer in children and adolescents in the Brazilian Amazon: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND

Every year, about 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer around the world, 90% of them in developing countries. In Brazil, it is estimated that 7,900 cases are expected by 2023, making cancer the second leading cause of death in this age group. Therefore, this study is relevant for strengthening health surveillance and developing strategies to combat childhood and adolescent malignant neoplasms.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the profile of cancer incidence and mortality in the child and adolescent population of Belém and Ananindeua between 2010 and 2019.

METHODS

This is a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, using data obtained from the Population-Based Cancer Registry (RCBP), referring to cancer incidence and mortality in individuals aged 0-19 residing in Belém and Ananindeua. The following variables were analysed: age, sex, race, morphology and case outcome. The data were organised in Microsoft Excel, using the formula: incidence = (number of new cases/total population) × 100,000. The analyses were descriptive, with emphasis on absolute and relative frequencies.

RESULTS

A total of 846 new cases of malignant neoplasms were registered among the population aged 0-19. The most frequent morphology was leukaemia, with 42.31 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by malignant tumours of the central nervous system, with 17.92, lymphomas, with 15.82 and bone tumours, with 12.27. The incidence is higher among males, with a large number of cases occurring in the age group 15-19. As for the outcome, 66.1% had no information on the patient's vital status, 29.6% had a confirmed death and only 4.4% had a vital status of alive.

CONCLUSION

The epidemiological data on childhood and adolescent malignant neoplasms in Belém and Ananindeua was detailed, providing more information on the subject. However, it was difficult to obtain some information from the RCBP system.