Clinicostatistical Study of Malignant Tumors in Infants and Children

ABSTRACT

Clinicostatistical study was carried out on 130 cases of children with malignant tumors admitted in pediatric ward of Severance Hospital from 1965 to 1974 and the following results were obtained 1) The incidence of malignancies on all admitted cases was 1.0% and males were more affected(68.5%) than females. 2) The annual increase of incidence on childhood malignancies couldn't be observed. 3) The highest incidence of malignancies (50.0%) was noted in preschool age group of children (1~6 Yrs). 4) The most common malignancy was leukemia (59.1%) and tumors arising from neural origin were next common. 5) The common sites of organ involvement by malignancies were RES including blood (77 cases), brain (17 cases) and sympathetic nerve (14 cases) in order of incidence. 6) The tentative diagnosis of malignancy was made on 80.8% of all cases at the time of admission. 7) Anemia and bleeding tendency were main problems in leukemic children (40 casse) on admission and mass or abdominal distension in the children with neuroblastoma, lymphoma and hepatoma. 8) Mean admission days of children with malignancy were 2 weeks and 20% of all cases were died in the hospital. 28.5% of all cases were improved at the time of discharge and 19.2% wree discharged against advice.