Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Care at a Tertiary Hospital in Northern Tanzania: A Retrospective Study.
JCO Glob Oncol
; 9: e2200263, 2023 Jun.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37384861
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Over 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer around the world each year, with over 80% of these children residing in low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to summarize the epidemiology and care patterns of newly diagnosed childhood cancer patients in Northern Tanzania.METHODS:
Data from all children and adolescents (age 0-19 years) with newly diagnosed cancers were collected from the Kilimanjaro Cancer Registry located at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants over time, stage, and status at last contact. Statistical significance was set at P < .05. Secondary descriptive analysis was conducted on a subset sample with available staging data.RESULTS:
A total of 417 patients were diagnosed with cancer between 2016 and 2021. There was an increase in the rate of patients with newly diagnosed pediatric cancer each year, particularly among children under age 5 years and 10 years. Leukemias and lymphomas were the leading diagnoses and accounted for 183 (43.8%) of all patients. Over 75% of patients were diagnosed at stage III or above. From a subset analysis of patients with available staging data (n = 101), chemotherapy was the most common treatment (87.1%), compared with radiotherapy and surgery.CONCLUSION:
There is a significant burden of children with cancer in Tanzania. Our study fills crucial gaps in the literature related to the large burden of disease and survival for children with cancer in the Kilimanjaro region. Furthermore, our results can be used to understand the regional needs and guide research and strategic interventions to improve childhood cancer survival in Northern Tanzania.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Oncología por Radiación
/
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
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Child, preschool
/
Humans
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Infant
/
Newborn
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
JCO Glob Oncol
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Tanzania