Childhood rhabdomyosarcoma in Kano, Nigeria: a retrospective analysis of 52 cases

Abstract

<h3>Objective</h3> Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children ≤15 years of age. There is, however, apaucity of reports on the pattern of its occurrence in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. <h3>Aim</h3> To describe the pattern of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma in Kano, northwest Nigeria with respect to demographic, morphology and tumour site. <h3>Patients and methods</h3> This is a 14-year retrospective study of all cases of rhabdomyosarcomas in children diagnosed at the Pathology Department of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Information obtained included sex, age, tumour site and histologic subtype. <h3>Results</h3> Fifty-two children were seen with a male to female ratio of 1:1.3. The ages ranged from 4 months to 15 years with a mean (SD) age of 6.99 (4.1) years and peak frequency in the 0-5 years age group. The embryonal variant was the most common histological subtype (69%). The others were alveolar (27%) and pleomorphic (4%) variants. The head and neck was the most affected region (44%) while the orbit (19.2%) was the most affected primary site. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The pattern of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma in Kano is similar to that in other parts of Nigeria and Africa except for the slight female preponderance.