Looking Towards 2030: Strengthening the Environmental Health in Childhood–Adolescent Cancer Survivor Programs

Laura T. Cabrera-Rivera, Brittney Sweetser, José L. Fuster-Soler, Rebeca Ramis, Fernando A. López-Hernández, Antonio Pérez-Martínez and Juan A. Ortega-García ()
Additional contact information
Laura T. Cabrera-Rivera: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
Brittney Sweetser: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
José L. Fuster-Soler: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
Rebeca Ramis: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
Fernando A. López-Hernández: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
Antonio Pérez-Martínez: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
Juan A. Ortega-García: European and Latin American Environment, Survival and Childhood Cancer Network (ENSUCHICA), Instituto Murciano de Investigación Sanitaria (IMIB), University of Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Childhood and adolescent cancer survivors (CACS) are a high-risk population for non-communicable diseases and secondary carcinogenesis. The Environmental and Community Health Program for Longitudinal Follow-up of CACS in the region of Murcia, Spain, is an ongoing pioneering program that constitutes a model for social innovation. This study aims to present the program tools and protocol as a whole, as well as a profile of the incidence, survival, and spatiotemporal distribution of childhood cancer in the region of Murcia, Spain, using 822 sample cases of cancer diagnosed in children under 15 years of age (1998–2020). While the crude incidence rate across that entire period was 149.6 per 1 million, there was an increase over that time in the incidence. The areas with a higher standardized incidence ratio have shifted from the northwest (1998-2003) to the southeast (2016–2020) region. Overall, the ten-year survival rate for all tumor types was 80.1% over the entire period, increasing the five-year survival rate from 76.1 (1998–2003) to 85.5 (2014–2018). CACS living in areas with very poor outdoor air quality had lower survival rates. Furthermore, integrating environmental health into clinical practice could improve knowledge of the etiology and prognosis, as well as the outcomes of CACS. Finally, monitoring individual carbon footprints and creating healthier lifestyles, alongside healthier environments for CACS, could promote wellbeing, environmental awareness, and empowerment in order to attain Sustainable Development Goals for non-communicable diseases in this population.

Keywords: environmental health; pediatric cancer; spatiotemporal analysis; carbon footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/443/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/443/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:443-:d:1016750

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().