Background:
In the last decades mortality from cancer in children and adolescents has not decreased homogeneously in countries. The childhood cancer represents between 0.5 to 5.7% of all malignancies reported. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in childhood. The impact of chemotherapy has improved survival in children.
Aim:
To determine the epidemiological behavior and mortality trend from acute lymphoblastic leukemia in less than 20 years old in Mexico from 2003 to 2012.
Methods:
Data was obtained from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) from deaths 2003-2012. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and mortality trends from acute lymphoblastic leukemia were estimated in less than 20 years old.
Results:
From a total of 702,909 deaths by cancer, 26,394 (3.8%) deaths were in less than 20 years old. The mortality rate from acute lymphoblastic leukemia was 29.8 %; the male/female sex ratio was 1.4 and the predominant age group ranged from 15 to 19 years old.
Conclusions:
In Mexico the mortality from acute lymphoblastic leukemia at children and adolescents remains a major public health problem, although it has a falling trend. On the other hand, it is important to remember that mortality rate for childhood acute leukemia is an indicator of access to and efficacy of health services, so it’s necessary to establish population-based cancer registries and studies will be needed.