Gender and age-related characteristics of malignant tumors in children

Abstract

Relevance of the problem. Malignant tumors in children are very rare in the overall structure of tumors. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, malignant tumors in children account for approximately 2-3% to 7-8% of all cancers. Objective: to determine reliable data on the incidence of malignant tumors in children by gender and age. Research material and methods. The study covered a nine-year period, only 204 children with newly diagnosed malignant tumors were identified. Results. Morphological verification (histological and cytological) was 77.9%. In the structure of malignant tumors in children, leukemias took the first place - 95 (52 boys and 43 girls) - 46.6%. In second place were lymphomas - 29 (25 boys and 4 girls) -14.2%. Among lymphomas, non-Hodgkin lymphomas were most common - 18 patients (17 males and 1 female) - 8.8%. Among solid tumors, retinoblastoma was the most common after renal tumors - 16 children (8 males and 8 females) - 7.9%. Children with malignant bone tumors in the structure of the disease accounted for 5.9%. Central nervous system tumors accounted for 9 children (6 males and 3 females) - 4.4%. Genital neoplasms (testicular cancer in 2 males and ovarian cancer in 10 females) accounted for 0.9% and 4.9%, respectively. Other neoplasms (thyroid cancer, nasopharyngeal lymphoepithelioma, rectal cancer and other tumors) accounted for 1.9% of observations. Thus, hemoblastosis - 60.7%, solid tumors - 39.3%. Boys are more likely to suffer than girls (1.3:1). The average annual incidence rate in males was 5.72 and in females 4.42 per 100,000 children. All structural forms of the disease were more common in boys than in girls. Soft tissue tumors were more common in girls. The highest incidence rate was observed in the younger age group (5.2). In the other two age groups (5-9 and 10-14 years) the rates were 5.0 and 3.9 per 100,000, respectively. The highest incidence rates in the younger age group were observed in leukemia (3.2), nephroblastoma (1.0), and retinoblastoma (1.1). The highest incidence rates in the 5-9 age group were also observed in children with leukemia (3.1), lymphogranulomatosis (0.6), and renal tumors (0.5). At the age of 10-14, leukemia (1.3), lymphoma (0.6), bone tumors (0.6) and ovarian tumors (0.6) are leading in terms of morbidity. Conclusion. The gender and age composition of the child population affects not only the overall level of morbidity, but also its structure, since each age group has its own structure of oncological diseases. These indicators allow the practitioner to predict and examine children at risk.

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