Patterns of incidence of brain tumors in children.

A population-based community-wide study of the incidence of brain tumors in children from 1960 through 1974 was conducted in the Baltimore area. Incidence rates in boys declined from 1960 to 1974 and were higher in whites than in blacks in all age groups except children under 5 years. A peak in incidence rates was observed in white 5- to 9-year-olds and in blacks from 0 to 4 years of age. In addition, incidence rates tended to be higher in boys than in girls at all ages except at puberty-the 10- to 14-year-old age group-when rates in girls exceeded those in boys. The findings suggest that both host and environmental factors may be involved in the cause of brain tumors in children.