The incidence of medulloblastomas and primitive neurectodermal tumours in adults and children

Abstract

Medulloblastomas (MB) and primitive neurectodermal tumours (PNET) are known to affect children more than adults. To estimate the magnitude of the differences between the incidence of adults and children, the incidence rates, ratios and time trends of MB and PNET in children and adults are measured using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER) database. Between 1973 and 2007 in the SEER 9 registries, 1372 people were diagnosed with a MB and 530 with a PNET. The overall incidence rate of MB and PNET is approximately 1.5 and 0.62 per million population in the USA. Children (1-9 years of age) with MB had an incidence rate of 6.0, compared to 0.6 in adults, and therefore c..