Incidence of childhood acute lymphoblast leukemia in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The aim of this paper was to investigate the incidence of acute lymhoblast leukemia (ALL) among children aged 0 to 15 years in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 1997 to 2004. The data for this paper were obtained by retrospective analysis of 139 case histories of children who were treated at the Haematology-Oncology Department of the Pediatrics Clinic of University Clinic Centre in Sarajevo in the period from 1 January, 1997 to 31 December, 2004 but also by analysis of the data provided by Cantonal health institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The above indicated data were complemented by those of the children who had been sent for treatment to the Clinic-Hospital Centre “Salata” in Zagreb and the Clinic Centre in Split (the Republic of Croatia) at their parents’ request. The data on population samples were taken from the yearly statistical reports of the Federal Statistical Institute. In the area of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina it was recorded that 119 children (83 boys (69,7%) and 36 girls (30,3%) suffered with ALL in the period from 1 January, 1997 to 31 December, 2004.The total ALL incidence rate in children of either sex in the observed period was 3.2/100.000 (95%CI 2.6-3.8). In Posavina Canton the incidence rate was highest, amounting to 6.4/100.000 (95%CI 1.7-16.4), while in Herzeg Bosnia Canton the rate was lowest and it amounted to 0.77/100.000 (95%CI 0.7-4.3). In other Cantons the incidence rate was fairly uniform. Poisson regression indicates that the rates do not differ significantly between the cantons (likelihood ratio χ2 test =14.88, df=9, P=0.09). The results of our investigation indicate that the average incidence rate of ALL in the area of Federation of B&H, in comparison with similar studies conducted in other countries, does not show statistically significant differences.