Trends in Pediatric Malignancy Cases at a Tertiary Care Center in Bihar, India: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background and aim: Pediatric malignancies constitute a significant proportion of cancer cases in India, and yet, there is a dearth of information on the distribution of these cancers in the state of Bihar. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted this study to analyze the pattern of pediatric malignancies. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted in a tertiary care hospital in eastern India. The study was conducted at the Department of Radiotherapy where we enrolled patients between the ages of 0-18 years who were referred to our department. Result: We analyzed the data of 306 patients, of which 22 (7.19%) were diagnosed with benign tumors and 284 with malignancies. Of the 284 patients with malignancies, 208 (73.24%) had solid tumors, and 76 (26.76%) had hematological malignancies. The most common hematological malignancy was acute lymphoblastic leukemia (32.89%), followed by Hodgkin lymphoma (30.27%) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (27.63%). Among solid malignancies, sarcoma was the most prevalent (31.25%), followed by germ cell tumors (17.79%) and Wilms’ tumor (16.83%). Conclusion: Lymphoblastic leukemia and Hodgkin’s lymphoma are the most prevalent pediatric hematological malignancies, while sarcoma is the most common pediatric solid tumor, followed by germ cell tumors and Wilms’ tumor. In summary, our study highlights the distribution of pediatric malignancies in Bihar, India, and underscores the need for further research in this area.

Keywords

• pediatric malignancies, cancer burden, bihar, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, sarcoma