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
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