The Pattern of Paediat ric Solid Tumours in Lagos

Abstract

Summary : There is a wide variation in the pattern of paediatric solid tumours with differences noted be tween developed and developing countries and also within geographic regions. A de scriptive retrospective study of children under 16 years with solid tumours seen be tween 1988 and 1998 was undertaken to document the pattern in Lagos at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). A total of 176,990 children less than 16 years of age were seen in the outpatient clinics out of which 440 had sold tumours. A total of 187 children had benign tumours, while 253 children had malignant tumours. This gives a prevalence for paediatric solid tumours of 2.5 per 1000 children under 16 years seen at LUTH. Malignant tumours were commoner among boys while benign tumours were commoner among girls 10 years and above. The common benign tumous included fibroadenoma (53.5 percent), neurofibromat (15.0 percent) and lipoma (13.9 percent). The common malignant tumours were retinoblastoma (20.2 percent), nephroblastoma (18.2 percent) and Burkitt's lymphoma (9.5 percent). The general pattern of solid tumours is in keeping with patterns seen in other developing countries, However, there is a clear difference in the pattern of malignant solid tumours from ather developing countries and from an earlier study done in the same centre with the predominance of retinoblastoma and nephroblastoma over lymphomas. Environmen tal and genetic factors are postulated as likely reasons for the difference. The impor tance of Cancer Registration is emphasised.