On this page, you can find tables and figures about the number of children and adolescents that are newly diagnosed with cancer (incidence) by diagnostic groups, sex, age and calendar periods, and their chances of survival. We also report on the number of children and adolescents that died because of cancer (mortality) by diagnostic groups, sex, age and calendar periods. Finally, we report on the quality of the data registered by the Childhood Cancer Registry (ChCR) by diagnostic group, and calendar period, separately for children and adolescents.
The statistical methods used to calculate incidence, mortality and survival are described in detail in the following document:
Incidence
In this section, we report the number of childhood and adolescent cancer cases, relative frequencies, and crude (not standardized for age) incidence rates for the main diagnostic cancer groups according to the third version of the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC-31), and for Langerhans cell histiocytosis and for all cancers combined. We report incidence for children (0-14 years old) and adolescents (15-19 years old), separately and combined (0-19 years old). We focus on the calendar period 1991-2020. Differences between males and females are shown using male to female ratios and sex-specific incidence rates. The minimum number of cancer cases displayed in the tables is 3 cases per cell. We write ” < 3” when a cell contains fewer than 3 cases. To avoid the possibility of calculating the precise number of cases in these situations, some other cells in the tables may be set to NA* (not available). Incidence is calculated as the number of new cases per 100,000 persons per year. We follow the same methodology as that used for the Swiss Cancer Report 2021 – Methods Report (only available in German). A more technical description of the methods is provided in chapter 2 of Statistical Methods for Cancer Reporting in Switzerland.
The tables and figures of this section can be cited as follows: Title of figure or table (2024). Figures: Incidence. Childhood Cancer Registry. URL https://www.childhoodcancerregistry.ch. Accessed: date.
1 Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Lacour B, Kaatsch P. International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition. Cancer. 2005 Apr 1;103(7):1457-67. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20910. PMID: 15712273.
Figures
Proportion of main diagnostic groups and Langerhans cell histiocytosis by age at diagnosis, 1991-2020Toggle Title
Sex-specific incidence rates by 5-year periods
Incidence rates by 10-year periods, main diagnostic groups and Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Sex-specific incidence rates by 10-year periods, main diagnostic groups and Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Tables
Cancer diagnosed at the age of 0 to 14 years, 2001-2010
Cancer diagnosed at the age of 15 to 19 years, 2001-2010
Cancer diagnosed at the age of 0 to 19 years, 2001-2010
Cancer diagnosed at the age of 0 to 14 years, 2011-2020
Cancer diagnosed at the age of 15 to 19 years, 2011-2020
Cancer diagnosed at the age of 0 to 19 years, 2011-2020
Mortality
In this section, we report the number of childhood and adolescent cancer deaths, relative frequencies, and crude (not standardized for age) mortality rates for the main diagnostic cancer groups according to the third version of the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC-31), and for all cancers combined. Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) are excluded because no deaths due to LCH has been reported during the calendar period in focus, 2001-2020. We report mortality for children (0-14 years old) and adolescents (15-19 years old), separately and combined (0-19 years old). Differences between males and females are displayed using male to female ratios and sex-specific incidence rates. The minimum number of cancer deaths displayed in the tables is 3 deaths per cell. We write ” < 3” when a cell contains fewer than 3 deaths. To avoid the possibility of calculating the precise number of deaths in these situations, some other cells in the table may be set to NA* (not available). Mortality is calculated as the number of cancer deaths per 100,000 persons per year. We follow the same methodology as that used for the Swiss Cancer Report 2021 – Methods Report . A more technical description of the methods is provided in chapter 2 of Statistical Methods for Cancer Reporting in Switzerland.
The tables and figures of this section can be cited as follows: Title of figure or table (2024). Figures: Mortality. Childhood
Cancer Registry. URL https://www.childhoodcancerregistry.ch. Accessed: date.
1 Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Lacour B, Kaatsch P. International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition. Cancer. 2005 Apr 1;103(7):1457-67. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20910. PMID: 15712273.
Figures
Proportion of deaths by main diagnostic groups and age at diagnosis, 1991-2020
Sex-specific mortality rates by 5-year periods
Mortality rates by 10-year periods and main diagnostic groups
Sex-specific mortality rates by 10-year periods and main diagnostic groups
Tables
Cancer deaths that occurred at the age of 0 to 14 years, 2001-2010
Cancer deaths that occurred at the age of 15 to 19 years, 2001-2010
Cancer deaths that occurred at the age of 0 to 19 years, 2001-2010
Cancer deaths that occurred at the age of 0 to 14 years, 2011-2020
Cancer deaths that occurred at the age of 15 to 19 years, 2011-2020
Cancer deaths that occurred at the age of 0 to 19 years, 2011-2020
Survival
In this section, we report observed 5-year survival by main diagnostic cancer groups according to the third version of the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC-31), and for Langerhans cell histiocytosis and for all cancers combined. We report 5-year survival for the calendar period 2011-2020, for children (0-14 years old) and adolescents (15-19 years old), separately and combined (0-19 years old). We also publish observed survival by 10-year periods of cancer diagnosis starting in 1991. Sex-specific 1-, 5- and 10-year observed survival is reported by calendar period (1996-2005, 2006-2015, 2016-2020) for children (0-14 years old) and adolescents (15-19 years old), separately and combined (0-19 years old).
Survival is estimated as the percentage of patients still alive at a given time t (in years) after diagnosis. We follow the same methodology as that used for the Swiss Cancer Report 2021 – Methods Report . A more technical description of the methods is provided in chapter 3 of the Statistical Methods for Cancer Reporting in Switzerland.
The tables and figures of this section can be cited as follows: Title of figure or table (2024). Figures: Survival. Childhood Cancer Registry. URL https://www.childhoodcancerregistry.ch. Accessed: date.
1 Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Lacour B, Kaatsch P. International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition. Cancer. 2005 Apr 1;103(7):1457-67. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20910. PMID: 15712273.
Figures
Observed 5-year survival for children by main diagnostic groups and Langerhans cell histiocytosis, 2011- 2020
Observed 5-year survival for adolescents by main diagnostic groups and Langerhans cell histiocytosis, 2011-2020.
Observed 5-year survival for children and adolescents by main diagnostic groups and Langerhans cell histiocytosis, 2011-2020.
Observed survival for children by 10-year periods
Observed survival for adolescents by 10-year periods
Observed survival for children and adolescents by 10-year periods
rein
Observed 1-, 5- and 10-year survival for children by calendar period and sex.
Observed 1-, 5- and 10-year survival for adolescents by calendar period and sex.
Observed 1-, 5- and 10-year survival for children and adolescents by calendar period and sex.
Data Quality Indicators
In this section, we report three data quality indicators: proportion of cases verified by death certificate only (DCO%), proportion of microscopically verified (by cytology or histology of metastasis or of primary tumour) cases (MV%) and mortality to incidence (M:I) ratios for the main diagnostic cancer groups according to the third version of the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC-31). We report these indicators for 10-year calendar periods starting in 1991, separately for children (0-14 years old) and adolescents (15-19 years old). For adolescents, we present two tables with DCO% and MV%: one including all diagnoses in Switzerland, and one including for each calendar period only the diagnoses in cantons with a cantonal cancer registry (CCR). The reported quality indicators are subject to considerable random variation and should be interpreted with caution.
A detailed description of the quality indicators DCO%, MV%, and M:I ratio can be found in the document New Data Quality Concept within the framework of the Federal Law on the Registration of Cancer. (Cancer Registration Act, CRA; SR 813.33)” (see paragraph 6). Some further technical aspects on the implementation of these quality indicators in the Childhood Cancer Registry (ChCR) can be found here.
The tables and figures of this section can be cited as follows: Title of figure or table (2024). Figures: Completeness of case ascertainment. Childhood Cancer Registry. URL https://www.childhoodcancerregistry.ch. Accessed: date.
1 Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Lacour B, Kaatsch P. International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition. Cancer. 2005 Apr 1;103(7):1457-67. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20910. PMID: 15712273.
Tables
DCO% for the age group 0-14 years
DCO% for the age group 15-19 years
DCO% for the age group 15-19 years in cantons with a cancer registry
MV% for the age group 0-14 years
MV% for the age group 15-19 years
MV% for the age group 15-19 years in cantons with a registry
M:I ratio for the age group 0-14 years
M:I ratio for the age group 15-19 years
