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A study investigates breast cancer surveillance practices among women cancer survivors, previously treated with chest radiation for a childhood cancer. Results suggest that young women at risk following chest radiation for a pediatric cancer are not being routinely and appropriately screened for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The potential for widespread exposure to agricultural pesticides through drift during application raises concerns about possible health effects to exposed children living in areas of high agricultural activity. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated whether residence in a county with greater agricultural activity was associated with risk of developing cancer in children < 15 years of age. METHODS: Incidence data for U.S. children 0-14 years of age diagnosed with cancer between 1995 and 2001 were provided by member registries of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. We determined percent cropland for each county using agricultural census data, and used the overall study distribution to classify agriculturally intense counties. We estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for all ages and 5-year age groups for total cancers and selected cancer sites using logistic regression. RESULTS: Our study results showed statistically significant increased risk estimates for many types of childhood cancers associated with residence at diagnosis in counties having a moderate to high level of agricultural activity, with a remarkably consistent dose-response effect seen for counties having [greater than or equal to] 60% of the total county acreage devoted to farming. Risk for different cancers varied by type of crop. CONCLUSIONS: Although interpretation is limited by the ecologic design, in this study we were able to evaluate rarer childhood cancers across a diverse agricultural topography. The findings of this exploratory study support a continued interest in the possible impact of long-term, low-level pesticide exposure in communities located in agriculturally intense areas. KEY WORDS: agricultural pesticides, childhood cancers, farming, pediatric cancers. Environ Health Perspect 116:559-565 (2008). doi:10.1289/ehp.9967 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 10 January 2008], Increased incidence of certain cancers among farmers and workers employed in agricultural settings has been reported in a variety of epidemiologic studies, raising concerns about exposure to agricultural chemicals in [...]

Using procedures identical to a study published 10 years earlier, parents of 49 children with cancer (48 mothers, 33 fathers) and 49 healthy classmates (49 mothers, 29 fathers) completed measures [...]

A study was conducted to investigate the large and geographically diverse cohort that is followed in the childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), with the goal of determining the prevalence, incidence, and severity of chronic health conditions in adult survivors of childhood cancer, and to determine the risk of chronic conditions in the survivors, as compared with their siblings. The findings suggest that survivors of childhood cancer have a high rate of illness owing to chronic health conditions.

Byline: R. Arora, TOB. Eden, G. Kapoor There has been enormous progress in the treatment of childhood cancer in the developed world and the epidemiology in these countries is well [...]

Byline: B. Arora, V. Kanwar Childhood cancer contributes to less than 5% of the total cancer burden in India, with approximately 45,000 children diagnosed with cancer every year. In the [...]

* Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular malignant childhood tumor in need of prospective clinical trials to address important unanswered questions about biology, treatment, and prognostic factors. Currently, there is controversy about the definitions for choroidal invasion and an inconsistency in the handling of eyes with retinoblastoma. The International Retinoblastoma Staging Working Group (IRSWG) composed of 58 participants from 24 countries on 4 continents had a series of Internet meetings to discuss the staging and tissue handling guidelines to reach consensus for adequate processing, establishing definitions of histopathologic risk factors, and reporting of enucleated eyes with retinoblastoma to serve as the basis for clinical trials and studies to validate the proposed criteria. The meetings were facilitated by the International Outreach Program of the St. Jude Children&apos;s Research Hospital through Cure4Kids. The retinoblastoma guidelines from the Children&apos;s Oncology Group, the French Society for Pediatric Cancers, the Association of Directors of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology, and some published data were the basis for this consensus document. Discussions of the feasibility, practicality, and efficacy of the guidelines and criteria resulted in this report. The consensus definitions reached included definition of massive choroidal invasion stated as a maximum diameter of invasive tumor focus of 3 mm or more that may reach the scleral tissue. Focal choroidal invasion is defined as a tumor focus of less than 3 mm and not reaching the sclera. Optic nerve invasion is classified as prelaminar, laminar, retrolaminar, or tumor at surgical margin, and the measurement of the depth of invasion should also be recorded. These guidelines also address handling of the enucleated eye with retinoblastoma in an efficient, practical, and feasible manner for a meaningful diagnosis. The consensus criteria reached by the IRSWG should be validated through prospective clinical trials and studies. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2009;133:1199-1202), Retinoblastoma--the most frequent primary intraocular tumor in children--lacks validation of a number of prognostic factors and requires a consensus on criteria for processing and interpreting histopathologic features. This is unlike [...]

Byline: A. Pandey, A. Gangopadhyay, S. Sharma, V. Kumar, D. Gupta, S. Gopal, R. Singh Background : Primary gastrointestinal system malignancies constitute approximately 2% of pediatric neoplasm and of these; [...]

Context.--Pituitary adenomas are relatively rare occurrences in the pediatric population, and there are few studies documenting the profile of these tumors in this age group. Objective.--To study the clinical and pathologic features of pediatric pituitary adenomas in conjunction with a review of the available literature. Design.--A retrospective clinicopathologic review of 20 pediatric patients (younger than 20 years of age) with pituitary adenomas resected during a 24.5-year period (1981-2005). Results.--A total of 20 patients, including 12 females and 8 males, comprise the study group. Mean age at onset of symptoms was 14.0 years (range, 5-18 years). Four patients had onset of symptoms before the age of 12 years. The majority of patients presented with headaches (n = 12), visual disturbances (n = 12) or, in females, menstrual dysfunction (n = 9/12). Tumor size based on radiographic data was known for 19 tumors; 12 adenomas were greater than 1 cm in greatest dimension, and 7 were less than 1 cm. On follow-up, 2 patients with total gross tumor resections had recurrent adenomas; time to recurrence was 5 months and 17 months, respectively. Nine adenomas stained solely for prolactin, 5 for adrenocorticotropic hormone, and 3 for growth hormone. Two stained for growth hormone and prolactin. One did not stain with hormone antibodies. Conclusions.--Most pediatric pituitary adenomas present after the onset of puberty and present with frequent headaches, changes in visual acuity and, in females, menstrual dysfunction. Most (19/20) were secretory, with prolactinomas being the most common type., Pituitary adenomas in children are relatively infrequent occurrences. (1-8) Most studies report the incidence of these tumors to be between 1% and 10% of all childhood brain tumors (9-12) and [...]