Death certificate notifications in the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry: assessing completeness and registration procedures

Schindler, Matthias; Mitter, Vera; Bergstraesser, Eva; Gumy‐Pause, Fabienne; Michel, Gisela; Kuehni, Claudia E.

doi:10.4414/smw.2015.14225

Cited by 37 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our finding of an excess risk in children aged <5 years could indicate a time window of increased susceptibility to environmental exposures. For rural areas, where contamination from other roads is likely to be less important, our results were suggestive of a dose response in the risk 15 of childhood leukaemia and ALL approaching background levels within 500 m from highways ( Supplementary Fig. S5).…”

Section: Interpretation Of Findingsmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…The SCCR is a population-based registry of high coverage. Recent estimates suggest that it includes 91 percent (about 95 percent since 1995) of all cancer cases diagnosed in Switzerland at <16 years of age since 1985 [15]. 5 Eligible cases were those diagnosed during follow-up with a diagnosis classified according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition (ICCC-3) ( Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Childhood cancer and residential exposure to highways: a nationwide cohort study

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Children living near highways are exposed to higher concentrations of traffic-related carcinogenic pollutants. Several studies reported an increased risk of childhood cancer associated with traffic exposure, but the published evidence is inconclusive. We investigated whether cancer risk is associated with proximity of residence to highways in a nation-wide cohort study including all children aged <16 years from Swiss National Censuses in 1990 and 2000. Cancer incidence was investigated in time to event analyses (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) using Cox proportional hazards models and incidence density analyses using Poisson regression. Adjustments were made for socio-economic factors, ionising background radiation and electromagnetic fields. In time to event analysis based on 532 cases the adjusted hazard ratio comparing children living <100 m from a highway with unexposed children (≥500 m) was 1.43 (95% CI: 0.79, 2.61). Results were similar in incidence density analysis including 1,367 leukaemia cases (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.25).Associations were similar for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (IRR=1.64, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.43) and stronger for leukaemia in children aged <5 years (IRR=1.92, 95% CI: 1.22, 3.04). Little evidence of association was found for other tumours. Our study suggests that young children living close to highways are at increased risk of developing leukaemia.

show abstract

Section: Interpretation Of Findingsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood cancer and residential exposure to highways: a nationwide cohort study

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Children were required to be living in Switzerland at diagnosis. The SCCR is a nationwide population‐based registry with an estimated coverage of 91% of cancers diagnosed in Switzerland over this period . Since 1995 completeness has been about 95%.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space-time clustering of childhood cancers in Switzerland: A nationwide study

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aetiology of childhood cancers remains largely unknown. It has been hypothesized that infections may be involved and that mini-epidemics thereof could result in space-time clustering of incident cases. Most previous studies support spatiotemporal clustering for leukaemia, while results for other diagnostic groups remain mixed. Few studies have corrected for uneven regional population shifts which can lead to spurious detection of clustering. We examined whether there is spacetime clustering of childhood cancers in Switzerland identifying cases diagnosed at age <16 years between 1985 and 2010 from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry. Knox tests were performed on geocoded residence at birth and diagnosis separately for leukaemia, acute lymphoid leukaemia (ALL), lymphomas, tumours of the central nervous system, neuroblastomas and soft tissue sarcomas. We used Baker's Max statistic to correct for multiple testing and randomly sampled time-, sex-and age-matched controls from the resident population to correct for uneven regional population shifts. We observed space-time clustering of childhood leukaemia at birth (Baker's Max p 5 0.045) but not at diagnosis (p 5 0.98). Clustering was strongest for a spatial lag of <1 km and a temporal lag of <2 years (Observed/expected close pairs: 124/98; p Knox test 5 0.003). A similar clustering pattern was observed for ALL though overall evidence was weaker (Baker's Max p 5 0.13). Little evidence of clustering was found for other diagnostic groups (p > 0.2). Our study suggests that childhood leukaemia tends to cluster in space-time due to an etiologic factor present in early life.The aetiology of most childhood cancers remains currently unknown. In developed countries, the most frequent diagnostic groups are leukaemia, predominantly acute lymphoid leukaemia (ALL), and tumours of the central nervous system (CNS). With the exception of ionizing radiation, 1 no environmental risk factors for these cancers have been established. 2,3 Several infectious agents are known to cause cancer in humans though. 4 Among paediatric cancers, Burkitt lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma are linked with Epstein-Barr virus. 4 An infectious aetiology has also been proposed for childhood leukaemia. 5 The observation of spatial clusters of childhood leukaemia cases has led to the suggestion that a specific infection is involved in aetiology. 6 If specific infectious agents cause cancer in children, incident cases might show a tendency to cluster in space and time, i.e., to appear more frequently close in time and space to each other than if they occur independently and the risk of disease is spread evenly across the study area. Such space-time clustering would best be detectable from residential locations of cases at the time of infection, not necessarily at the time of diagnosis when children may have relocated. Investigation of the space-time pattern both at birth and at diagnosis may thus help uncover the presence and timing of a potentially causative infection. 7

show abstract

“…Data came from the population‐based Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry (SCCR) . Recent estimates suggest that it includes 91% (about 95% since 1995) of all childhood cancer cases diagnosed in Switzerland . The SCCR has access to medical records of patients and codes the primary cancer diagnosis in childhood according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC), 3rd edition …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cause‐specific long‐term mortality in survivors of childhood cancer in Switzerland: A population‐based study

Schindler

Spycher

Ammann

et al. 2016

Intl Journal of Cancer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Survivors of childhood cancer have a higher mortality than the general population. We describe cause‐specific long‐term mortality in a population‐based cohort of childhood cancer survivors. We included all children diagnosed with cancer in Switzerland (1976–2007) at age 0–14 years, who survived ≥5 years after diagnosis and followed survivors until December 31, 2012. We obtained causes of death (COD) from the Swiss mortality statistics and used data from the Swiss general population to calculate age‐, calendar year‐, and sex‐standardized mortality ratios (SMR), and absolute excess risks (AER) for different COD, by Poisson regression. We included 3,965 survivors and 49,704 person years at risk. Of these, 246 (6.2%) died, which was 11 times higher than expected (SMR 11.0). Mortality was particularly high for diseases of the respiratory (SMR 14.8) and circulatory system (SMR 12.7), and for second cancers (SMR 11.6). The pattern of cause‐specific mortality differed by primary cancer diagnosis, and changed with time since diagnosis. In the first 10 years after 5‐year survival, 78.9% of excess deaths were caused by recurrence of the original cancer (AER 46.1). Twenty‐five years after diagnosis, only 36.5% (AER 9.1) were caused by recurrence, 21.3% by second cancers (AER 5.3) and 33.3% by circulatory diseases (AER 8.3). Our study confirms an elevated mortality in survivors of childhood cancer for at least 30 years after diagnosis with an increased proportion of deaths caused by late toxicities of the treatment. The results underline the importance of clinical follow‐up continuing years after the end of treatment for childhood cancer.

show abstract

Death certificate notifications in the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry: assessing completeness and registration procedures

Abstract: Childhood cancer registration in Switzerland was quite complete, but registration must improve for infants, particularly neonates, and children diagnosed with hepatic, endocrine and brain tumours.

Cited by 37 publications

References 13 publications

Childhood cancer and residential exposure to highways: a nationwide cohort study

Childhood cancer and residential exposure to highways: a nationwide cohort study

Space-time clustering of childhood cancers in Switzerland: A nationwide study

Cause‐specific long‐term mortality in survivors of childhood cancer in Switzerland: A population‐based study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About