[Cancer incidence of children and adolescents in China, 2022].
Objective: To analyze the incidence of malignant tumors in children and adolescents (aged 0-19 years) in China in 2022. Methods: Data were sourced from GLOBOCAN 2022 and Cancer Incidence in Five Continents (CI5) Volume Ⅻ. Incidence data by sex and age group for childhood and adolescent cancers from Chinese registries in CI5 Volume XII were extracted to calculate the proportion of each subtype. These proportions were then applied to the overall cancer incidence in children and adolescents in China from GLOBOCAN 2022 to estimate the number of incident cases for different tumor types. World standardized incidence rates (WSR) were calculated using Segi's world standard population. Results: In 2022, there were 32 792 new cases of malignant tumors in children and adolescents (aged 0-19 years) in China, with a WSR of 105.93 per million. Among them, 23 121 new cases occurred in children aged 0-14 years, accounting for 70.51% of all cases in children and adolescents, with a WSR of 100.30 per million. The most common diagnostic types of malignant tumors in Chinese children and adolescents in 2022 were leukemia (11 983 cases, 36.54%), followed by central nervous system tumors (4 485 cases, 13.68%) and lymphoma (2 764 cases, 8.43%), with WSR of 39.78 per million, 14.15 per million and 8.35 per million, respectively. Among different age groups, the highest WSR was observed in the 15-19 years (125.28 per million), followed by the 0-4 years (120.67 per million). Except for the 15-19 years group, the age-specific incidence rate was higher in males than in females. The top three cancer types by incidence in both sexes in 0-14 years group were consistent with those in the 0-19 years group, namely leukemia, central nervous system tumors, and lymphoma. In the 15-19 years group, the top three cancers in males were leukemia, bone tumors, and lymphoma, while in females they were malignant melanomas and other malignant epithelial tumors, leukemia, and malignant gonadal germ cell tumors. Conclusions: The incidence rates and cancer type distribution in children and adolescents vary considerably by sex and age group in China. Targeted prevention and control strategies for childhood and adolescent cancer malignant tumors should be developed accordingly.