Profile of 193 pediatric cancer patients managed with radiation therapy:
Challenges and lessons learned
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.