Spectrum of paediatric malignancies in eastern Nigeria (1989-1998).

A 10-year retrospective survey of childhood malignancies in eastern Nigeria was carried out based on data from the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Cancer Registry. The aim was to discover the current pattern of paediatric malignancies in the study area. A total of 313 children aged less than 15 years, diagnosed with cancer by means of histological or cytological examination during the study period (January 1989-December 1998) were analyzed. The male-to-female ratio was 1.6:1. The lymphomas constituted the highest prevalence (38.3%) with Burkitt's lymphoma being the commonest (65.8%) of all the lymphomas. These were followed by sarcomas (14.7%), nephroblastoma (14.4%), retinoblastoma (12.1%) and leukaemias (8.6%). The less common ones were teratomas (2.9%) and neuroblastoma (1.9%). Comparison of two clinicopathological studies of childhood cancer in Enugu between 1976-1980 and 1989-1998 showed an increase in the relative frequencies of sarcomas, retinoblastoma, leukaemias and a decline in the frequencies of Burkitt's lymphoma, nephroblastoma, teratomas and neuroblastoma. Further epidemiological studies are necessary in order to determine whether these changes actually reflect the distribution of childhood cancer in the general population and also to elicit the possible mechanisms of carcinogenesis.