Despite reports of increasing cancer rates among children globally and nationally, a recent analysis has revealed that childhood cancer rates have remained steady over the past three decades in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
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Cancer
Lead author Dr Suzanne Mashtoub, from Flinders University and the University of Adelaide, comments, “This finding is reassuring and indicates that childhood and young adult cancers may have distinct underlying causes.”
The study, involving researchers from multiple institutions including Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute and the Telethon Kids Institute, examined cancer incidence and survival among children aged 19 and under from 1990 to 2017 in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Key findings include a significant decrease in cancer incidence over time among non-Indigenous children, while rates remained unchanged among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, with lymphocytic leukemia being the most common diagnosis.
Dr Mashtoub notes, “While survival rates have improved overall in South Australia and stabilized in the Northern Territory, Indigenous children still experience lower survival rates compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts.”
Co-author Dr Justine Clark of the Telethon Kids Institute emphasizes, “There remains an unacceptable disparity in cancer survival rates for Indigenous children in the Northern Territory, highlighting systemic issues that must be addressed.”
The study underscores the need for global efforts to understand cancer risk factors in childhood and early adulthood. Dr Mashtoub adds, “Identifying these factors could lead to the development of biomarkers for early cancer detection, potentially improving outcomes significantly.”
