Pattern of childhood malignancy in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

Data from the cancer register in the Department of Child Health, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Accra, Ghana was reviewed in order to document the pattern of malignancies seen in children. Out of a total of 15,200 admissions over a 40 month period there were 254 malignancies diagnosed constituting 1.67% of all admission. Lymphoma was the commonest tumour constituting 67% with Burkitt's Lymphoma being the commonest subtype. This was followed by Retinoblastoma (8.6%), Leukaemia (8.2%) and Wilms tumour (7.8%). This trend is similar to the picture seen in other developing countries in Africa where there is a high incidence of lymphoma and a low incidence of leukaemia, the converse being the case in Europe and North America.