Trends in childhood cancers at Tygerberg Hospital from 1994 to 2014

• Published in: SAJCH : the South African journal of child health Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 93 - 98
• Main Authors: Ndlovu, S, Esterhuizen, T M, Uys, R, van Zyl, A, Kruger, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: South African Medical Association NPC 01-07-2023; Health & Medical Publishing Group; South African Medical Association
• Subjects: Analysis; Cancer in children; Health Care Sciences & Services; Leukemia; Lymphomas; Medical records; Mortality; Sarcoma; South Africa; South Africa
• ISSN: 1994-3032; 1999-7671; 1999-7671
• DOI: 10.7196/SAJCH.2023.v17i2.1944

Background There is a paucity of data regarding childhood cancer incidence in low- and middle-income countries owing to a lack of disease-specific, hospital- and population-based registries.Objective To describe the disease profile and outcome of children with cancer, treated at a single institution in South Africa between 1994 and 2014.Methods Data collected included demographic data (age at diagnosis, sex, stage or risk group, race) and 5-year overall survival (OS) of children aged ≤15 years diagnosed with cancer. Time to event and factors associated with 5-year outcomes were analysed, using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis.Results The most common malignancies were leukaemia (27.7%), brain tumours (18.4%), lymphomas (14.1%), nephroblastoma (8.0%) and soft-tissue sarcomas (7.4%) for 935 patient records. Limited-disease solid tumours and standard-risk haematological malignancies had good OS rates of 77.7% and 85.9%, respectively, although OS for the whole group was 60.2%. Nephroblastoma (89.3%), retinoblastoma (86.7%), Hodgkin’s lymphoma (89.7%) and Burkitt lymphoma (75.5%) had the best OS. Type of cancer (p