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Re: Rhabdomyosarcoma
OK...not only did Steven Dapra find my typo, but he also found the
reference I wanted (and another one I hadn't seen) before I had a chance to
dig it up.
A quick calculation using the quoted figures of 250 cases per year being 5
to 8% of all childhood cancers means that there are between 3125 and 5000
total cases of childhood cancer diagnosed in this country annually.
Unfortunately, neither of the references give an age range for "childhood."
Using the upper value of 5000 cases per year and the census information
below (from www.census.gov) we find the following:
Age Range Population in Range Annual Cancer Incidence
0 - 5 years 18,915,000 0.026 %
0 - 9 38,866,000 0.013 %
0 - 14 58,449,000 0.009 %
0 - 19 78,230,000 0.006 %
If we take the total US population and assume that 1 in 3 will be diagnosed
with cancer at some time in their lives (this may be high) we expect over
91 million cancers. Assuming a 75-year average life-span and a uniform
distribution of cancer diagnoses over those 75 years, we get an annual
incidence for the population as a whole of 0.444 %. This is only 17 times
the rhabdomyosarcoma rate, which doesn't classify as 'extremely rare' in my
book. Add to that the fact that the distribution of cancer diagnoses
versus age is nowhere near uniform (I'm thinking essentially monotonically
increasing at least past age 60) and I think you can see my point. As
always, though, it's open for discussion.
Eric
P.S. Interesting to note that they estimate 61,000 (!) people over age 100.
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Resident Population Estimates of the United States by Age and Sex:
April 1, 1990 to August 1, 1999
(Numbers in thousands. Consistent with 1990 Decennial Census enumeration.)
Source: Population Estimates Program, Population Division,
U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. 20233
Contact: Statistical Information Staff, (301)457-2422 by phone,
POP@CENSUS.GOV by e-mail (please include telephone number).
Internet Release Date: October 1, 1999
Aug. 1, July 1, July 1, July 1, July 1, July 1,
1999 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995
BOTH SEXES
Population, all ages 273,137 272,878 270,299 267,744 265,190 262,765
Summary indicators
Median age.......... 35.5 35.5 35.2 34.9 34.7 34.4
Mean age............ 36.4 36.4 36.2 36.1 35.9 35.8
Five-year age groups
Under 5 years....... 18,915 18,918 18,966 19,097 19,289 19,529
5 to 9 years........ 19,951 19,957 19,921 19,749 19,435 19,092
10 to 14 years...... 19,583 19,554 19,242 19,091 19,001 18,849
15 to 19 years...... 19,781 19,762 19,539 19,140 18,704 18,200
20 to 24 years...... 18,099 18,061 17,674 17,483 17,504 17,978
25 to 29 years...... 18,216 18,240 18,588 18,812 18,927 18,899
30 to 34 years...... 19,717 19,750 20,186 20,732 21,309 21,821
35 to 39 years...... 22,553 22,556 22,626 22,629 22,549 22,293
40 to 44 years...... 22,300 22,278 21,894 21,376 20,809 20,257
45 to 49 years...... 19,416 19,363 18,859 18,465 18,428 17,456
50 to 54 years...... 16,515 16,452 15,726 15,157 13,927 13,641
55 to 59 years...... 12,941 12,883 12,407 11,755 11,356 11,085
60 to 64 years...... 10,535 10,526 10,269 10,062 9,996 10,046
65 to 69 years...... 9,455 9,455 9,593 9,775 9,900 9,925
70 to 74 years...... 8,777 8,779 8,802 8,753 8,789 8,830
75 to 79 years...... 7,349 7,337 7,218 7,086 6,891 6,700
80 to 84 years...... 4,832 4,823 4,734 4,664 4,575 4,478
85 to 89 years...... 2,638 2,629 2,556 2,480 2,415 2,351
90 to 94 years...... 1,154 1,151 1,117 1,080 1,043 1,017
95 to 99 years...... 347 344 324 305 291 268
100 years and over.. 61 60 57 54 51 48
Special age categories
5 to 13 years....... 35,631 35,618 35,389 34,996 34,597 34,188
14 to 17 years...... 15,674 15,661 15,517 15,495 15,210 14,826
18 to 24 years...... 26,110 26,056 25,470 24,973 24,837 25,107
16 years and over... 210,858 210,627 208,277 205,919 203,666 201,492
18 years and over... 202,916 202,682 200,426 198,156 196,094 194,222
15 to 44 years...... 120,666 120,647 120,508 120,171 119,803 119,449
65 years and over... 34,613 34,578 34,401 34,198 33,955 33,618
85 years and over... 4,201 4,184 4,054 3,919 3,800 3,684
Note: For more details about this table, see corresponding menu item
"Sources and Methods".
J. Eric Denison
Nuclear Engineering Program
The Ohio State University
2030 Robinson Laboratory
206 West 18th Avenue
Columbus OH 43210
(614) 292-3681 or -1074
denison.8@osu.edu
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