The pattern of pediatric malignancy and outcome in Khartoum Oncology hospital, Sudan: A 15-year single-center experience

Abstract

BackgroundSudan is a country with limited resources. The pattern of malignancies is unknown due to the lack of a national registry. Khartoum's oncology hospital is the largest in the country. Large hospital data might reflect the country's profile. This study investigates the 15-year disease distribution and survival rates of children with malignant diseases at Khartoum Oncology Hospital (KOH). Material and methodsChildren 0–15 years with histologically confirmed malignancy were followed from 2005 to 2019 in KOH, Sudan. The disease pattern and overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method. ResultsWe studied 4343 electronically registered and hard copies of patients. Children constitute 4% of all center patients. The male-to-female ratio was 1.5.Seventy-two percent of patients are between 1 and 10 years old. The abandonment rate is high (32.2%) and contributes to low survival. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms tumor, and retinoblastoma were the most common malignancies. The EFS was 47.4%, and OS was 49.3%. ConclusionMalignancy was more common in males. The malignancy pattern was similar to that in other African countries. Abandonment rates are high. A cancer registry is needed to determine the malignancy pattern in the pediatric population.