Childhood Cancer Among Alaska Natives

• Published in: Pediatrics (Evanston) 2003-11, Vol.112 (5), p.e396-e396
• Main Authors: Lanier, Anne P, Holck, Peter, Ehrsam Day, Gretchen, Key, Charles
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Alaska - epidemiology; Child; Child, Preschool; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Humans; Incidence; Indians, North American; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Inuits; Male; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Neoplasms - ethnology; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - epidemiology; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - ethnology; Pediatrics; Registries - statistics & numerical data; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0031-4005; 1098-4275
• DOI: 10.1542/peds.112.5.e396

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the occurrence of cancer in Alaska Native (AN) children (under age 20). Although several studies have compared differences in cancer incidence between white and black children, few have examined cancer among Alaska Natives/American Indians. We know of no published article describing cancer incidence in AN children. We compared our findings with those of American Indian children of New Mexico and of Alaska white children. Data on mortality, survival, and prevalence are also included. Alaska Native is the term used collectively for the inhabitants whose ancestors occupied the area before European contact of what is now the state of Alaska. Alaska Natives include Eskimo, Indian, and Aleut groups. Although the 3 major groups differ in culture, language, and probably genetics, there are similarities in numerous social and economic indicators. The Northern Eskimo of Alaska (Inupiat) are related to Canadian and Greenland Inuit. Indians in Alaska include Athabaskan (in the interior of the state), who share commonalities with Canadian Athabaskan as well as with Navajo and Apache in the southwestern United States. Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian groups reside primarily in the southeast panhandle of the state. The panhandle Indian groups are similar to those of British Columbia. Data on cancer incidence are from the Alaska Native Tumor Registry, 1969-1996. We studied children under age 20 to make our results comparable to national data as presented in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Pediatric Monograph. Population data for AN are based on census data and Indian Health Service intercensal estimates. Data for US whites and New Mexico Indians are from the National Cancer Institute's SEER program. Calculations were made using SEERStat software. Data for Alaska whites are for the years 1996-2000. (The Alaska Cancer Registry has collected data for all Alaskans only since 1996). Odds ratios (ORs) of rates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The rate among all AN children (both sexes) for all cancers combined is similar to that of US whites (OR: 1.0; 95% CI: 0.8-1.1). Examination of childhood cancer rates by ethnicity, however, reveal that rates are significantly lower for Indian (OR: 0.6; 95% CI: 0.4-0.8) but not significantly different for Eskimo or Aleut children. For most International Classification of Childhood Cancers groups, incidence rates for AN childre