Clinical Profile of Paediatric Head and Neck Cancers at a Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania

• DOI: 10.4314/rjmhs.v3i1.3
• Publication Date: 2020-07-16T07:26:27Z
• Authors: Zephania Saitabau...; Enica Richard Mas...; Aveline Aloyce Ka...; Kassim Babu Mapon...; Willybroad August...; Henry Swai; Siwillis Mithe; James Joseph Yahaya; Daudi Ntunaguzi
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 3. Good health

Background Paediatric head and neck cancers represent an important group of childhood cancers that require maximum attention at large. They are often diagnosed at advanced clinical stages at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH). Objective To describe the clinical profile of paediatric head and neck cancers at a tertiary hospital in Tanzania Method A hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted involving 180 paediatric patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS program version 21. Results A total of 180 paediatric patients were recruited where 61.1% were males and 38.9% were females. Majority belonged to the age group 0-5 years (53.9%). A total of 10 primary anatomical sites were found with the neck (cervical lymph node) predominating (36.1%), followed by the orbit/eye (34.4%) and the least anatomical sites were oral cavity (1.1%) and parapharyngeal space (0.5%). Leukocoria (93.9%), red eye (93.9%) and orbital cellulitis (77.6%) predominated in retinoblastoma but in patients with lymphomas, predominant features were night sweats (100%), weight loss (100%) and fevers (95.8%). Conclusion The clinical profile depicted in this study appears to correlate with advanced clinical stages. Keywords: Paediatric; Head; Neck Cancers; Muhimbili; Tanzania