1st Detailed Cancer Rate Data for Children, Youth Released in Japan

May 30, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's National Cancer Center released on Wednesday the country's first detailed cancer rate data covering children aged up to 14, and adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged between 15 and 39.

"The survey results are expected to serve as a basis for drawing up measures" to combat cancer among children and young adults, Kota Katanoda, chief of the center's Division of Cancer Statistics Integration, said.

Using data collected from 27 of the country's 47 prefectures in 2009-2011, the center calculated the rates of children and AYAs developing cancer in a year and estimated the number of cancer patients in the age groups across the nation.

The survey showed that the rate, or the number of people diagnosed with cancer in a year's time per 100,000 population, came to 12.3 among people aged up to 14, with the annual number of such children estimated at about 2,100 nationwide.

The rate came to 14.2 among people aged between 15 and 19, with the estimated annual number of new patients coming to 900, to 31.1 among those in their 20s, with 4,200 estimated new patients, and to 91.1 among those in their 30s, with 16,300 estimated new patients.

The most common cancer was leukemia in the age group of zero to 14 and that of 15 to 19, and germ cell tumor among those in their 20s. For those in their 30s, the most common type was breast cancer among women. Jiji Press