No abstract

Background and aim: The establishment of an international hospital‐based register (HBR) for the French African Pediatric Oncology Group (GFAOP) was a necessary step in the group's clinical research program. With help from the Sanofi Espoir Foundation's “My Child Matters” program, the GFAOP resolved to develop an international HBR network to collect quality data on children attending the Pediatric Oncology Units (POUs). Methods: All children entering POUs from January 2016 to December 2018 were registered using an online questionnaire. Data collection included information on diagnosis, disease stage, demographics, socioeconomic status, and outcome. An intensive training program was developed to improve both data quality and quantity. Results: Among the 3348 children registered, 3230 had a suspected cancer, 681 were not confirmed. A diagnosis was confirmed on radiological, clinical, or histological examination for 2549 children including Burkitt lymphoma (516: 20%)—the most frequent diagnosis, Wilms’ tumor (459: 18%), retinoblastoma (357: 14%), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (345: 13%). Of these, 2187 children were treated. Early deaths, abandonment, economic difficulties, and lack of equipment were some of the reasons offered to explain the numbers of undiagnosed and untreated children. Vital status is known for 1994 children: 1187 died and 807 were alive, 551 of these with a follow‐up > 12 months. Conclusion: This work has provided reliable data on children attending the POUs, especially clarifying reasons and occasions for care rupture. The data will help to identify material, human resources, and staff training needs, to evaluate progress, and to encourage consideration of pediatric cancer in national cancer plans.

The rarity of the tumor and unusual age of discovery have prompted us to report this case. Our case suggests that this disease can have an aggressive behavior. This is why we advise a rapid and correct diagnosis followed by an aggressive treatment.

We report the case of a 40-day-old boy, who presented to hospital with tachypnea and sudden pallor. A pleural effusion in the left chest was observed on the chest X-ray. He was ventilated and thoracic drainage was performed because of degradation of his respiratory status. Computed Tomography as well as Magnetic Resonance Imaging supported strongly the diagnosis of mediastinal neuroblastoma. The extension assessment was negative. We opted for a conservative treatment by chemotherapy, and the courses proceeded favourably. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the residual mass was resected completely through a left thoracotomy. Histopathological examination established the final diagnosis of ganglioneuroblastoma. Thus, it is possible to avoid invasive treatment for massive hemothorax caused by neuroblastoma by initiating chemotherapy.