UNASSIGNED: The aetiology of @entity5 remains largely unknown. It has been hypothesized that infections may be involved and that mini-epidemics thereof could result in space-time clustering of incident cases. Most previous studies support spatio-temporal clustering for @entity1778 , while results for other diagnostic groups remain mixed. Few studies have corrected for uneven regional population shifts which can lead to spurious detection of clustering. We examined whether there is space-time clustering of @entity5 in Switzerland identifying cases diagnosed in @entity1 aged <16 years between 1985 and 2010 from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry. Knox tests were performed on geocoded residence at birth and diagnosis separately for @entity1778 , @entity1778 ( @entity1778 ), @entity5 and soft tissue @entity242 . We used Baker's Max statistic to correct for multiple testing and randomly sampled time-, sex- and age-matched controls from the resident population to correct for uneven regional population shifts. We observed space-time clustering of childhood @entity1778 at birth (Baker's max P = 0.045) but not at diagnosis (P = 0.98). Clustering was strongest for a spatial lag of <1 km and a temporal lag of <2 years (Observed/expected close pairs: 124/98; P Knox test = 0.003). A similar clustering pattern was observed for @entity1778 though overall evidence was weaker (Baker's max at birth P = 0.13). Little evidence of clustering was found for other diagnostic groups (P>0.2). Our study suggests that childhood @entity1778 tends to cluster in space-time due to an etiologic factor present in early life. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Space-time clustering of XXXX in Switzerland: A nationwide study.

@entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['childhood cancers', 'lymphomas, tumours of the central nervous system, neuroblastomas'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['children'] @entity1778 :: ('MESH:D007938', 'Disease') :: ['leukaemia', 'ALL', 'acute lymphoid leukaemia'] @entity242 :: ('MESH:D012509', 'Disease') :: ['sarcomas']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['childhood cancers']
