OBJECTIVE: It was to describe the pattern of mortality from central nervous system tumors in children and adolescents in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1980-2009. METHODS: Mortality data were extracted from the Mortality Information System. Crude, sex-specific and age-specific mortality rates were calculated. For trend analyses, we used polynomial regression models and the estimated annual percent change RESULTS: Between 1980 and 2009, CNS tumors accounted for 23% of total deaths from cancer in Rio de Janeiro in individuals with less than 20 years. Of these deaths, 54.7% were in males, 90.8% had tumor located in the brain and 87.7% were malignant. Over this period, mortality decreased 1.5% annually. The highest rate was 2.25/100,000, in 1984, and the lowest was 0.68/100,000, in 2008 CONCLUSION: The CNS tumors in children and adolescents currently represent a public health problem in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, despite the decrease in mortality observed during the study period. To assess whether the decrease in mortality was due to the tumor incidence reduction or treatment improvement, further research is needed to explore the factors associated to brain cancer development, diagnosis and therapeutic results.
mortality; neoplasms; Central Nervous System; child; adolescent