Global survival trends for brain tumors, by histology: Analysis of individual records for 67,776 children diagnosed in 61 countries during 2000–2014 (CONCORD-3)
Fabio Girardi, V Di Carlo, Charles Stiller, Gemma Gatta, Ryan Woods, Otto Visser, Brigitte Lacour, T. C. Tucker, Michel P. Coleman, Claudia Allemani, CONCORD Working Group, S. Bouzbid, M Hamdi-Chérif, L Kara, Kaouel Meguenni, D. Regagba, Siné Bayo, T Cheick Bougadari, S S Manraj, Karima Bendahhou, A Ladipo, Olufemi J. Ogunbiyi, Nontuthuzelo Somdyala, M A Chaplin, Florencia Moreno, G.H. Calabrano, S.B. Espinola, B Carballo Quintero, R Fita, W.D. Laspada, S.G. Ibañez, Carlos Anselmo Lima, Allini Mafra da Costa, P.C.F. De Souza, J. Chaves, C. Laporte, María Paula Curado, J.C. de Oliveira, C.L.A. Veneziano, Donaldo Botelho Veneziano, Ana Beatriz Almeida, M R D O Latorre, Marise Souto Rebelo, M O Santos, G Azevedo e Silva, J.C. Galaz, M Aparicio Aravena, J Sanhueza Monsalve, D.A. Herrmann, S Torres Vargas, Víctor Herrera, Claudia Uribe, Luis Eduardo Bravo, Luz Stella García, Nelson Enrique Arias-Ortiz, D Morantes, Daniel Jurado, María Clara Yépez Chamorro, Sandra Delgado, Melissa Ramirez, Y H Galán Alvarez, Priscila Torres, F Martínez-Reyes, L. Jaramillo, R. Quinto, J Castillo, M Mendoza, Patricia Cueva, J.G. Yépez, Bernard Bhakkan, Jacqueline Deloumeaux, Clarisse Joachim, Jonathan Macni, R Carrillo, J Shalkow Klincovstein, Rebeca Rivera-Gómez, P Pérez, Ebert Poquioma, Guillermo Tortolero‐Luna, Diego Zavala, R. Alonso, Enrique Barrios, Angela Eckstrand, C Nikiforuk, Ryan Woods, Glen Noonan, Donna Turner, Eshwar Kumar, B Zhang, Jeff Dowden, Gregory P. Doyle, Nathalie Saint‐Jacques, Gordon Walsh, A Anam, P De, Carol McClure, K.A. Vriends, Claude Bertrand, Agnihotram V. Ramanakumar, Lisa E. Davis
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Tumors of the central nervous system are among the leading causes of cancer-related death in children. Population-based cancer survival reflects the overall effectiveness of a health care system in managing cancer. Inequity in access to care world-wide may result in survival disparities. METHODS: We considered children (0-14 years) diagnosed with a brain tumor during 2000-2014, regardless of tumor behavior. Data underwent a rigorous, three-phase quality control as part of CONCORD-3. We implemented a revised version of the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (third edition) to control for under-registration of non-malignant astrocytic tumors. We estimated net survival using the unbiased nonparametric Pohar Perme estimator. RESULTS: The study included 67,776 children. We estimated survival for 12 histology groups, each based on relevant ICD-O-3 codes. Age-standardized 5-year net survival for low-grade astrocytoma ranged between 84% and 100% world-wide during 2000-2014. In most countries, 5-year survival was 90% or more during 2000-2004, 2005-2009, and 2010-2014. Global variation in survival for medulloblastoma was much wider, with age-standardized 5-year net survival between 47% and 86% for children diagnosed during 2010-2014. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the largest account to date of global trends in population-based survival for brain tumors in children, by histology. We devised an enhanced version of ICCC-3 to account for differences in cancer registration practices world-wide. Our findings may have public health implications, because low-grade glioma is 1 of the 6 index childhood cancers included by WHO in the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.