All issues > Volume 33(6); 1990

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1990;33(6):821-829. Published online June 30, 1990.

A Clinical Study on Tumors in Children.

Jae Wook Ko¹, Seon Wha Kim¹, Don Hee Ahn¹, Keun Chan Sohn¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

Received: November 29, 1989;  Accepted: February 23, 1990.

Abstract

A clinical study was made on 558 cases of benign or malignant tumors occuring under the age of 16 years which had been observed at the National Medical Center during a period of 12 years, from January 1976 to December 1987. Five hundred fifty eight tumors were divided into 308 benign, 223 malignant and 27 uncertain tumors. The frequency of malignant tumors among total admitted cases of pediatric department, was 0.9%. Both Benign and malignant tumors showed the highest distribution in the age group of 0 to 5 years. Leukemia were the most commonly observed in the age group of 0 to 5 years and 95% of bone and cartilage tumors were distributed over the age 11. Most of retinoblastoma, neuroblastoma, hepatob- lastoma were distributed under the age of 6. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1 in benign tumors and was 1.6:1 in malignant tumors. According to the organ or system of tumors, hemangioma of any site showed the highest frequency in benign tumors. And bone & cartilage, lymphangioma of any site and genitourinary system were next in the order of frequentcy. In malignant tumors the most frequent was hematopoietic system followed by genitourinary, central nervous system and bone & cartilage in the order of frequency. The most common malignant tumor was leukemia comprising 39.9% with 89 cases followed by lymphoma, brain tumors and bone & cartilage tumors in the order of frequency. Cases with distant metastasis on diagnosis were 24 (10.8%) in malignant tumors. Among 206 cases of malignant tumors with available records, 126 cases were lost during follow-up regardless of doctor’s opinion. The major causes of loss were nonappearance within reason, poverty and refusal to treat. Over 90% of loss were occurred within 6 months from diagnosis. Among 80 cases with adequate follow-up, 49 cases (61.3%) were dead, and 22 cases (27.2%) were cured or under state of off-therapy.

Keywords :Tumors in Children