Abstract
Background: Conditional survival estimates take into account the time that a patient has remained alive following diagnosis to provide a realistic perspective on the probability of longer term survival. Such estimates are scarce for childhood cancer, particularly by age at diagnosis or stage of cancer.
Methods: De-identified population-based data were obtained from
the Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry for children aged 0-14 years
diagnosed with cancer between 1983 and 2010. Mortality status was followed up
to the end of 2011. The hybrid period method was used to calculate relative
survival estimates for those who were at risk during the period 2002-2011.
Conditional survival stratified by diagnostic group or subgroup, age and stage
at diagnosis was then obtained from the ratio of the relative survival
estimates at different time points.
Results: A total of 13,537 children were eligible for inclusion.
Five-year survival for all childhood cancers combined improved from 82% at diagnosis
(95% confidence interval. =. 81-83%) to 89% (88-90%) conditional on surviving
one year, and 97% (97-98%) conditional on surviving five years after diagnosis.
Conditional survival reached 95% within five years of diagnosis for nearly all
types of cancer, regardless of a child's age or stage at diagnosis.
Conclusion: Most children diagnosed with cancer who are alive five years
after diagnosis can anticipate similar survival to children in the general
population. This information may help alleviate some of the distress associated
with childhood cancer, particularly for those with an initially poor prognosis.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 394-400 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Cancer Epidemiology |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2015 |