Number of children now beating cancer rises

GROWING numbers of children are beating cancer – but the incidence of the disease is also rising.

Eight in 10 children survive the disease and cancer death rates have fallen “significantly and substantially” since the mid to late 1960s.

The mortality decline among young patients averaged 2.5 pc3 pc annually, the National Cancer Registry said.

Fewer than 25 children under 15 have died from cancer annually from the 1990s onwards, compared with 50-60 a year in 1950s to the 1970s as new treatments came on stream.

However, the incidence of these childhood cancers increased, partly reflecting population rises and better diagnostics.

The report said on average 137 cases of cancer were diagnosed annually among children under the age 15 from 1994-2014 and another 74 cases in older teenagers.

The incidence rate among boys increased by 1.1pc per year between 1994 and 2014, but this was not seen as significant.

However, for girls the rise of 1.6pc over the same period was statistically significant, the report said.

“Although a real trend in underlying risk of childhood cancer cannot be ruled out, it is likely that a substantial proportion of the increase in incidence rates reflects improvements in diagnosis.”

Among the three biggest cancer groups, leukaemias and lymphomas show no significant trends in incidence.

However, tumours of the brain and central nervous system showed a particular rise from 1999 to 2014.

The most impressive improvements have been seen in survival from leukaemias – especially lymphoid leukaemia – and lymphomas during the last 20 years.

Of the 2,873 patients aged fourteen and younger diagnosed during 1994-2014, some 2,289 were still alive at the end of 2014.

While incidence rates of childhood cancer in Ireland were close to the European average, death rates in Ireland were amongst the lowest.

The average survival is close to the European average.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Professor Kerri Clough-Gorr, director of the National Cancer Registry, said: “Although childhood cancers are thankfully rare, their impact on families is high.

“And the potential loss of years of life averages much higher than for adult cancers.

“Monitoring childhood cancers is therefore important.

“Treatment improvements have led to marked reductions in mortality from childhood cancer.

“But further work is needed to follow-up the growing numbers of surviving, who may experience long-term health consequences related to their cancer treatment.”