Incidence of childhood cancer in the province of Perugia (Italy).

This paper reports the incidence of childhood cancer in the Province of Perugia (Italy) in 1975-1979 and compares it with that reported in other areas in Italy and other western countries. Over the period studied the new cases of cancers in children under 15 years of age, recorded in the Province of Perugia, were 51 in males and 36 in females. The mean annual incidence rates per 100,000 were 17.93 in males and 13.51 in females so that the male to female ratio of rates was 1.33. The most common neoplasms were leukemia (4.92 per 100,000 in males and 5.25 in females), brain tumours (3.87 in males and 1.50 in females), nephroblastomas (1.40 in males and 1.50 in females), lymphomas (2.81 in males and 0.37 in females). This distribution, in general, is the same as that observed in many other white populations. However some differences in the incidence value rates between the Province of Perugia and other areas of western countries are pointed out both for the cancers as a whole and for certain histologic types.