Childhood Malignancies-Clinico-demographic Profile of Patients Attending the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at a Tertiary Care Centre in North-East India

Introduction: Malignancies in children are different from those found in adults and are a significant cause of childhood mortality.They have varied clinical presentation depending on site and type of disease.It is essential to recognize the early signs and symptoms of malignancies in childhood, especially those involving head and neck region, so as to reduce childhood mortality and morbidity. Materials: A total of 2384 children were admitted over a period of 7 years. Out of these, 1004 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were chosen for further evaluation.They were thoroughly evaluated by undertaking a detailed history and clinical examination.Whenever required, additional investigations were performed.After carrying out the necessary investigations, the cases were accordingly managed. Data was evaluated using proper statistical tools. Results: Out of 1004 cases fulfilling the inclusion criteria, 42 turned out to be malignant, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.2. Malignancies in children were more common in the age group of 11-18 years, followed by 1-5 years,6-10 years and 0-1 years,with rates of 59.5%, 21.4%, 16.7% and 2.4% respectively. A wide variety of tumour types were recorded,e.g.,Hodgkin's lymphoma,non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,acute leukemia,papillary carcinoma thyroid, nasopharyngeal carcinoma,Langerhans cell histiocytosis,rhabdomyosarcoma, olfactory neuroblastoma and salivary gland neoplasm. Conclusion: Incidence of head and neck tumors in pediatric age group was found to be 1.76% with lymphoma being the most frequent.Commonest age of presentation was above 10 years. There was an overall female predominance with a male:female ratio of 1:1.2. Awareness of a potential malignancy and careful follow-up of children with suspicious head and neck cancers is mandatory for early diagnosis and prompt treatment.