Malignant Childhood Solid Tumours in Ile-Ife, Nigeria: A Ten-Year Retrospective Review

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood cancer is fast becoming a growing global challenge and gaining global attention especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) where there is associated high morbidity and mortality. This review is to determine the patterns of malignant childhood solid tumours in our hospital and to compare this with previous studies. Methods: A 10-year retrospective review in which all histologically diagnosed malignant solid tumours between ages 0-15 years were analysed. The surgical daybook and the histopathology request cards were retrieved and the patients’ biodata, nature of specimen and tumour sites were extracted. Subgrouping of the various types of tumour was done based on the third edition (2005) of International Classification of Childhood Cancers (ICCC-3). Results: There were 124 cases of malignant childhood solid tumours with an average of 12.4 cases per year. Seventy-eight cases (62.9 %) were male, while 46 cases (37.1%) were female, hence a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The age ranges were from 4 months to 15 years. The five most common tumour subgroups according to ICCC-3 were nephroblastoma (25 cases; 20.2%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (21 cases; 16.9%), retinoblastoma (11 cases; 8.9%), rhabdomyosarcoma (10 cases; 8.1%), and Burkitt lymphoma (9 cases; 7.2%). Conclusion: Nephroblastoma is the most common childhood solid tumour in our centre, while Burkitt lymphoma is the 5th most common. There seems to be a decline in the diagnosis of Burkitt lymphoma and retinoblastoma in our Department over the last 10 years, whether this represents a true decline in the incidence need further studies.