Mortality in childhood Hodgkin's disease. An etiologic clue.

Abstract

THERE ARE peculiarities in the distribution of Hodgkin's disease with respect to age and sex which must reflect the influence of factors important in the genesis of the disease. MacMahon 1,2 has noted that (1) the age distribution in cases dying of Hodgkin's disease has two modes, the first of which occurs at 25 to 29 years of age, and (2) among 122 children with the disease before 10 years of age, the sex ratio (male:female) was almost 6:1 in contrast to the much lower value of about 1.5:1 for adults. To explore further the sex ratio in childhood and its relation to the age-peak at 25 to 29 years, we have examined US childhood mortality from Hodgkin's disease by single year of age. A dynamic change in rates was observed which has not previously been described. Methods Duplicates of punch cards containing information from the death certificates of all