Patterns Of Pediatric Cancers Treated With Radiotherapy In Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Purpose: Pediatric Cancers are the second leading cause of death in children. Even though Radiotherapy has a significant role in the treatment of pediatric cancers, there is scarcity of research data on the patterns of pediatric cancer patients treated with radiotherapy in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to assess the socio-demographic, clinico-pathological and treatment patterns of pediatric cancers treated with Radiotherapy in Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Method:A Retrospective study was Conducted on Pediatric cancer patients treated with Radiotherapy from November 2020 - October 2023 in TASH.

Results: A total of 67 pediatric Cancer patients who were treated with Radiotherapy were selected and included in the analysis. Most patients were males (n=35, 52.2%) and the median age was 7 years. RMS (n=13, 19.4%), Wilms Tumor (N=13, 19.4%) and Hodgkin Lymphoma (N=11, 16.4%) were the commonest malignancies treated by Radiation. The majority of the Patients had non-metastatic disease at the time of radiation (n=58, 86.6%). Curative radiotherapy was given for 85.1% (n=57) of patients while 14.9%(n=10) received palliative radiotherapy. 3D-CRT (n=45, 67.2%) was the most commonly used radiotherapy planning technique. Anesthesia during radiotherapy was required in 36.82%(n=24) of patients and from these most were in the age category of 2-5 years. The mean waiting time to start radiotherapy for all patients was 2.2 months. Patients treated with Curative radiotherapy had longer waiting time (mean2.4 months) than those treated with palliative radiotherapy (mean-1.4 months).

Conclusion: RMS and Wilms tumor were the commonest cancers treated by Radiation. Even though the majority of patients were treated with Curative radiotherapy, most of them waited longer to start radiation than those treated with palliative RT.