Rare cancers can be grouped into the following "families":
- Rare SKIN cancers and NON-CUTANEOUS MELANOMA
- Rare THORACIC cancers (mesothelioma, thymoma, rare lung cancers, rare breast cancers)
- Rare UROGENITAL cancers (kidney cancers, bladder cancers, urinary tract cancers)
- Rare FEMALE GENITAL cancers (cervical and ovarian cancers)
- Rare MALE GENITAL cancers (prostate and testicular cancers)
- NEUROENDOCRINE cancers
- ENDOCRINE ORGAN cancers (adrenal cancer, thyroid and parathyroid cancer)
- Rare CNS cancers (brain cancer)
- SARCOMAS
- Rare DIGESTIVE cancers (oesophageal cancers, stomach and small intestine cancer, colorectal and anal cancers, liver cancers, gallbladder cancers and cancers of the Intrahepatic/Extrahepatic Bile Tract (IBT/EBT), pancreatic cancers)
- Rare cancers of HEAD & NECK
- Rare HAEMATOLOGIC cancers (lymphomas, leukaemias, myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative disorders/neoplasms)
- PAEDIATRIC solid cancers
Distribution of Families of Rare Cancers
Graph illustrating the distribution of families of rare cancers within all rare cancers on the right (graph courtesy of the RARECARE project).
A list of rare cancers has been provided by the RARECARE project, based on the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O 3rd edition). The list of rare cancers can be downloaded from the RARECARE Website.
A presentation on the development of the list of rare cancers can be downloaded here.
Further reading:
- GENERAL, Europe: Rare cancers are not so rare: The rare cancer burden in Europe (November 2011, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 47, Issue 17, Pages 2493-2511); free download
- GENERAL, United States: The Occurrence of Rare Cancers in U.S. Adults, 1995-2004 (January-February 2010, Public Health Reports Vol. 125(1), Pages 28-43); free download
- SKIN / MELANOMA: Descriptive epidemiology of malignant mucosal and uveal melanomas and adnexal skin carcinomas in Europe (May 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 8, Pages 1167-1175); abstract
- THORACIC: Rare thoracic cancers, including peritoneum mesothelioma (May 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 7, Pages 949-960); free download
- UROGENITAL: Incidence and survival of rare urogenital cancers in Europe (March 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 4, Pages 456-464); abstract
- MALE GENITAL: Burden of testicular, paratesticular and extragonadal germ cell tumours in Europe (January 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 2, Pages 159-169); abstract
- ENDOCRINE: Carcinoma of endocrine organs: Results of the RARECARE project (September 2012, European Journal of Cancer, Volume 48, Issue 13 , Pages 1923-1931); free download
- CNS: Epidemiology of glial and non-glial brain tumours in Europe (July 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 10, Pages 1532-1542); abstract
- SARCOMAS: Descriptive epidemiology of sarcomas in Europe: Report from the RARECARE project (18 October 2012, European Journal of Cancer, In Press Corrected Proof); abstract
- DIGESTIVE: Incidence, prevalence and survival of patients with rare epithelial digestive cancers diagnosed in Europe in 1995–2002 (July 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 10, Pages 1417-1424); abstract
- HEAD & NECK: Rare cancers of the head and neck area in Europe (April 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 6, Pages 783-796); free download
- HAEMATOLOGIC: Incidence, survival and prevalence of myeloid malignancies in Europe (November 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 17, Pages 3257-3266); abstract
- HAEMATOLOGIC: Incidence of hematologic malignancies in Europe by morphologic subtype: results of the HAEMACARE project (November 11, 2010, Blood Vol. 116, no. 19, Pages 3724-3734); free download
- EMBRYONAL: Embryonal cancers in Europe (July 2012, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 48, Issue 10, Pages 1425-1433); abstract
- PAEDIATRIC: Survival of European children and young adults with cancer diagnosed 1995–2002 (April 2009, European Journal of Cancer Vol. 45, Issue 6, Pages 992-1005); abstract