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Profile of 193 pediatric cancer patients managed with radiation therapy: Challenges and lessons learned
  • +7
  • Renu Madan,
  • Shikha Goyal,
  • Treshita Dey,
  • Rakesh Kapoor,
  • Nagarjun Ballari,
  • Shiv Soni,
  • Bishan Radotra,
  • Deepak Bansal,
  • Amita Trehan,
  • Nitin Peters
Renu Madan
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research

Corresponding Author:renumadan10@yahoo.com

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Shikha Goyal
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Treshita Dey
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Rakesh Kapoor
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Nagarjun Ballari
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Shiv Soni
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Bishan Radotra
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Deepak Bansal
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Amita Trehan
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Nitin Peters
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
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Abstract

Background: Series on radiotherapy (RT) practice in pediatric malignancies are limited in India as only few centers practice pediatric RT, particularly under anesthesia. We aimed to study the clinical profile of pediatric cancer patients treated with RT and to assess various aspects of pediatric RT under anaesthesia. Procedure: The data was prospectively maintained in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Pediatric cancer patients aged 0–14 years, registered in the department between February 1, 2019, and July 30, 2021were analyzed. Results: A total of 193 pediatric cancer patients (non central nervous system) received radiation during above mentioned period. Median age at presentation was 5.2 years (range, 9 months to 14 years) with a male to female ratio of 1.8:1. Maximum population was in 0-4 years of age group (52.8%) followed by 5-9 years (29.5%) and ≥ 10 years (17.6%). Most common sites for RT included bone and soft tissue tumors (BST), retinoblastoma, wilms tumor, neuroblastoma, and hematological malignancies. Overall, BST constituted the most common malignancy among all age groups, followed by renal tumors in the 0-4 years and hematological malignancies in 5-14 years. One hundred and seventy-nine (92.7%) patients received RT with curative intent, while 14 (7.3%) patients received palliative RT. Thirty patients needed anaesthesia for RT. Thirty-four patients required RT interruption due to toxicities with a median gap of 7 days. Conclusions: RT is an important aspect of multi-disciplinary care in pediatric cancers. Establishing burden of pediatric cancer patients in RT department may help in resource development and prioritisation.