Pediatric malignancies in Kano, Northern Nigeria
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Pediatric malignancies in Kano, Northern Nigeria Ochicha Ochicha, Aisha Kuliya Gwarzo, Dalhatu Gwarzo Kano, Nigeria
Methods: We reviewed 438 childhood (≤15 years) malignancies diagnosed at the histopathology and hematology laboratories of our teaching hospital in a 10year period (2001-2010). Results: The 438 malignancies comprised 10.9% of all cancers. The maligancies frequently seen in early childhood (0-4 years) accounted for 46.1% and in late childhood (5-9 years) for 34.7%. Retinoblastoma (30.6%), Burkitt lymphoma (19.9%) and acute leukemia (16.9%) were the most common pediatric cancers. Unlike in most other parts of the world, acute myeloid leukemia was slightly more prevalent than acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Conclusions: Although there were notable differences, our findings were in broad agreement with those of most other sub-Saharan African series, but differed markedly from those in the Western world and other high income countries. Further studies are required to identify the environmental factors for the high prevalence of nonfamilial retinoblastoma and possibly acute myeloid leukemia. World J Pediatr 2012;8(3):235-239 Key words: acute leukemia; Nigeria; pediatric cancer; retinoblastoma
Author Affiliations: Department of Pathology (Ochicha O) and Department of Hematology (Gwarzo AK, Gwarzo D), Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria Corresponding Author: Ochicha Ochicha, Pathology Department, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, PMB 3452 Kano, Nigeria (Email: ochicha@gmail. com) doi: 10.1007/s12519-012-0363-3 ©Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012. All rights reserved.
World J Pediatr, Vol 8 No 3 . August 15, 2012 . www.wjpch.com
Introduction
W
ith effective immunization prog r ams successfully combating previously common devastating childhood infections in the developing world, the relative burden of non-infectious childhood diseases such as cancer has increased. Consequently, pediatric cancer has become an increasingly important cause of childhood morbidity/ mortality and a major public health concern. In view of the higher birth rates and younger population in the developing countries, childhood malignancies are accordingly more prevalent than in the developed world. Childhood cancers comprise just 0.5%-2% of malignancies in the industrialized countries, [1-3] but 4.3%-12.5% in the developing countries.[4-8] Not surprisingly, over 80% of the global childhood cancers are estimated to occur in the developing countries.[9,10] In the low income developing countries (LICs), pediatric cancer survival is low, largely because of the poor access to good quality pediatric oncology care. Since many of the LICs lack proper population-based cancer registries, there is a dearth of epidemiologic data on common childhood malignancies. Such data are essential for optimal channeling of scarce healthcare resources in the LICs.[10,11] The need for up-to-date cancer data is particularly crucial in view of the striking ethnic and
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