Assessment of childhood cancer at National Oncology Center in Sana'a city, Yemen

Abstract

Background: No published studies assess childhood cancer and obstacles to receive cancer treatment in Yemen. The aim of this study was to assess childhood cancer and obstacles to receive cancer treatment at National Oncology Center (NOC) in Sana`a city, Yemen. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 119 children with cancer was conducted at the NOC in Sana'a city, Yemen from March to May, 2012. Data was collected through face-to-face interview and retrospectively from patients' files. The data regarding sociodemographic characteristics, medical history of childhood cancer and obstacles to receive cancer treatment were collected by structured questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using the SPSS. A p-value <0.05 (2-sided) was considered statistically significant. Results: One hundred and nineteen children with cancer and their parents were included in our study. The mean age and SD was 8.7 ± 4.5 years. 63.9% of the participants were boys. Lymphomas were the most common cancer diagnosed, representing 35.3% of all childhood cancers followed by leukemias (22.7%) and malignant bone tumors (12.6%). A high proportion of childhood cancer was diagnosed at advanced stages and constituted for 58%. Tumor grading was mentioned in 25.2% of cases. Histology diagnosis was achieved in 89.1% of cases. 80.7% did not receive cancer treatment on regular basis. Conclusion: The study concluded that at the National Oncology Center, lymphomas were the most common childhood cancer diagnosed, followed by leukemias and malignant bone tumors. The distribution of cancer was more in boys than girls. Poor service was the main obstacle to received cancer treatment regularly. The study recommends that a national cancer registry should be introduced. (El Med J 2:4; 2014

Pattern of malignancies in children <15 years of age reported in Hadhramout Cancer Registry, Yemen between 2002 and 2014

“…It also has the preference to occur more in males than females. 2 - 5 , 23 , 24 Acute myeloid leukemia occurs more frequently in females than males; this is an uncommon finding, but similar results were also found in another study conducted in Yemen. 3 Only one case of chronic juvenile myeloid leukemia was found in our study, which is a rare disease worldwide.…”

“…There was variable age-specific incidence pattern in our study with the predominant age group of 5-9 years (36% of all cases), a finding that is in a accordance with other studies from Yemen. 3 , 5 Also, our study showed that lymphomas are the most common childhood cancers (24%) followed by leukemias (23%), carcinomas (13.1%), and CNS tumors (11.6%). Our results are similar to developing countries especially African countries such as Sudan 20 and Nigeria, 21 , 22 and also to a study conducted in Yemen, 5 where lymphomas were the most common cancers.…”

“…The percentage of carcinomas in HCR (13%) was much higher than that reported in Sanaa (1.7%), as well as the SEER report (3.4%). 3 - 5 , 14 …”

“…Quantitative analysis of the studied variables included Chi squares, Fischer exact test, and rates stratified by gender and age. We also used data from previous publications to compare the frequency of different cancer types registered from Aden, 3 , 4 Sanaa, 5 and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and SEER*Stat Database of the National cancer institute, USA that works to provide information on cancer statistics. 15…”

“…The most common types of cancers reported in Yemen are leukemia, lymphoma, and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. 3 - 5 The cancer registry is considered the corner stone for the documentation of basic data of cancer patients and an entry into a computerized register, and this is considered as an initial step in the establishment of the epidemiology of cancer. 6 , 7 Cancer registries are currently available in many Arab countries, including Yemen.…”