Time: 2024-06-21
Despite reports of rising cancer rates in children and young people globally, a recent analysis has found that childhood cancer rates have not changed over the past 30 years in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Lead author Dr. Suzanne Mashtoub from Flinders University and the University of Adelaide's Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences stated that this finding is reassuring and suggests that childhood and young adult cancers have different causes. The analysis focused on cancer incidence and survival in children 19 years or younger in South Australia and the Northern Territory from 1990 to 2017.
The stable childhood cancer rates in the region have led researchers to believe that perinatal factors may not be the sole cause of the rise in young-onset adult cancers. The PELICan hypothesis proposed by co-authors Barreto and Pandol suggests that in addition to perinatal factors, early life stressors play a crucial role in the development of young-onset adult cancers. The study included researchers from various institutes and hospitals, highlighting the collaborative effort to understand the underlying causes of childhood cancer.
The analysis revealed that cancer incidence had decreased over time among non-Indigenous children in South Australia, while it remained unchanged among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Lymphocytic leukemia was found to be the most diagnosed cancer in the region. Although overall survival rates improved in South Australia, there is still a significant disparity in survival rates for Indigenous children in the Northern Territory. Researchers stress the importance of addressing issues related to timely diagnosis, financial barriers, and cultural safety within cancer services to improve outcomes for Indigenous children.
Study co-author Dr. Justine Clark emphasized the need for every Australian child to have access to world-class cancer care and the best possible outcomes. The authors highlighted the importance of identifying risk factors that contribute to childhood cancer formation to aid in early detection and improve survival rates. The research paper, published in the journal Cancers, emphasizes the need for a global effort to understand and address the risk factors associated with childhood cancer formation. Dr. Mashtoub believes that identifying these risk factors could lead to the development of biomarkers for early cancer detection, potentially curing the disease at an early stage.
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