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A Systematic Review of Survival of Children with Solid Tumors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
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  • Eliana Marostica,
  • Sarah Barbrow,
  • Nickhill Bhakta,
  • Lisa Force,
  • Paola Friedrich,
  • Sara Lederman,
  • Becky Lee,
  • Meaghan Muir,
  • Emily Shohfi,
  • Alexandra Power-Hays,
  • Allison Pribnow,
  • Adriana Ramirez,
  • Thomas Alexander,
  • Leslie Robison,
  • Lindsay Frazier
Eliana Marostica
Wellesley College Department of Computer Science

Corresponding Author:eliana_marostica@hms.harvard.edu

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Sarah Barbrow
Wellesley College
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Nickhill Bhakta
St Jude Children's Research Hospital
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Lisa Force
St Jude Children's Research Hospital
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Paola Friedrich
Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital
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Sara Lederman
University of Minnesota Medical School Twin Cities
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Becky Lee
Loma Linda University Medical Center Department of Radiation Medicine
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Meaghan Muir
Boston Children's Hospital
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Emily Shohfi
Boston Children's Hospital
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Alexandra Power-Hays
Boston Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics
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Allison Pribnow
Stanford University School of Medicine
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Adriana Ramirez
University of Virginia Department of Surgery
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Thomas Alexander
University of North Carolina System
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Leslie Robison
St Jude Children's Research Hospital
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Lindsay Frazier
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Department of Pediatric Oncology
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Abstract

Population-level estimates of the survival of children from low- and middle-income countries diagnosed with solid tumors do not currently exist, in contrast to outcomes of hematologic and central nervous system cancers, which have been collated from population-based cancer registries and published by the CONCORD Programme. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic review of PubMed Legacy, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, and three regional databases for publications that reported survival of children diagnosed age 0-14 years with any malignancy from January 2011 to December 2016. The search identified 4695 original records; 51 articles met inclusion criteria. The range of survival reported was broad; for instance, 5-year overall survival for retinoblastoma ranged from 48% in Central America to 98% in China. However, the paucity of published statistics prevented approaches for meta-analyses and emphasizes the need for more standardized data collection and reporting.