Area-Based Marginalization and Incidence of Childhood Cancer

Are area-based measures of social deprivation associated with childhood cancer incidence?In this population-based cross-sectional study of approximately 2.3 million children and 9063 pediatric cancer cases diagnosed in Ontario between 1999 and 2023, patients who lived in affluent neighborhoods had a 15% higher incidence rate of cancer than those in the least affluent areas.Set within Ontario’s universal health care system, this study’s results suggest that factors associated with affluence may contribute to an increased risk of childhood cancer, thus highlighting the need to consider broader sociodemographic factors when examining pediatric cancer epidemiology.

Corresponding Author: Maria Chiu, PhD, MSc(Epi), Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario, 1014-480 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 1V2, Canada (mchiu@pogo.ca).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.