EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD CANCER IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Relevance: The epidemiological study of the morbidity and mortality of the children's population of Kazakhstan from malignant neoplasms is an urgent task of modern oncology.

Objective: To rank malignant neoplasms according to the degree of importance of individual components for evaluating the provision of oncological care to the pediatric population.

Results: The data of 3900 children with malignant neoplasms aged 0-18 years (solid tumors in 2613- 67%, leukemia in 1287 patients - 33%) registered in 2011-2020 in Kazakhstan were analyzed. Leukemia was diagnosed in 1,287 (1st place, 33%), brain tumors – 612 (2nd place, 15.7%), lymphomas – 520 (3rd place, 13.3%), soft tissue tumors – 388 (4th place, 9.9%), bone tumors – 360 (5th place, 9.2%), neuroblastoma – 225 (5.8%), nephroblastoma – 207 (5.3%), eye tumors - 106 (2.7%), testicular tumors – 57 (1.5%), liver tumors – 48 (1.3%), ovarian tumors – 47 (1.2%) and Langerhans cell histiocytosis – 43 (1.1%) of sick children. In dynamics, the absolute number of patients tended to increase – from 356 patients in 2011 to 710 children in 2020.  Morphological verification of the tumor in children in Kazakhstan as a whole amounted to 82.4±2.6%, in the early stage (I-II art.) of the disease it was carried out in 37.5±2.7% of children. The rate of neglect of malignant tumors was 10.7±1.8%, and one–year mortality was 21.3±2.4%.

Conclusion: All these indicators characterizing the state of the oncological service of the children's population of Kazakhstan are directly related to the volume of coverage of the population with preventive examinations and the level of detection of malignant tumors at an early (I-II art.) stage of the disease, as well as the level of awareness of the population and doctors of the general medical network about malignant neoplasms. It is necessary to improve the provision of oncological care to children's patients by increasing the detection and improvement of early diagnosis, as well as to establish a full accounting of malignant neoplasms in the child population.