Correct regist ration of pediatric CNS tumors affects survival rates
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
Šalaševičius, Lukas | ||
| Date |
|---|
2018-06-01 |
no. PO-13.
Backgroud. A recently published EUROCARE-5 study that analyzed treatment outcome of children treated for central nervous system (CNS) tumors in 2000-2007 pointed out an incomplete registration of non-malignant CNS tumors in several European countries, including Lithuania (Gatta, 2017). Underregistration can affect calculation of survival rates and mislead the interpretation of treatment outcomes. Aim. We aimed to verify the registration accuracy of pediatric CNS tumors diagnosed at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos in 2013-2016 and to compare treatment outcome to the reported numbers. The patients were treated at our institution and the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Klinikos. Methods. Children diagnosed with CNS malignancy were identified in the institutional database. All cases were cross-checked with the National Cancer Registry (NCR) that is population-based. The fact of the registration and survival status was verified. Results. Thirty-three children were diagnosed with CNS tumors at our institution in 2013-2016. Tumor histology was verified in 28 (85%) cases. Twenty-two patients (67%) were diagnosed with non-malignant tumors (WHO grade I-II), 9/33 (27%) had malignant histology (WHO grade III-VI), 2 (6%) cases remained unverified. Data cross-check with NCR revealed 9/33 (27%) of unregistered cases. All of them were found to be non-malignant. One year overall survival (OS1y) of non-malignant tumors was 86.4±7.3% as compared to 100% reported by the EUROCARE-5 whereas for malignant CNS tumors OS1y was identical: 77.8±13.9% versus 77.6%. Conclusion. A significant proportion of non-malignant CNS tumors was found to be unreported to the NCR that could potentially overestimate the previously reported survival rate. As these tumors are very often encountered by specialists other than pediatric oncologists, consolidation of multidisciplinary approach and awareness of the impact of a meticulous registration on cancer epidemiology an