Analysis of diagnosis announcements in Abidjan pediatric oncology unit 2 years after introduction of the African Pediatric Cancer Announcement Guideline.

INTRODUCTION: Announcing the diagnosis allows the therapeutic alliance between physicians and patients to be sealed and it prevents abandonment of treatment. To compensate for the deficit in information received by the families, the Franco-African Group of Pediatric Oncology (FAGPO) has published an "African Pediatric Cancer Announcement Guide" for the group's pediatric oncology units. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the announcements made to parents and children 2 years after the provision of this guide. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey conducted from March to July 2016. In total, 69 parents of children followed up in the pediatric oncology unit of Abidjan were interviewed regarding the characteristics of the announcement that was made to them and the information given to the sick child. RESULTS: Of all the accompanying individuals, 91% reported having benefited from the announcement made with empathy, mainly by a physician. In approximately one quarter of the cases the information had been given to a third party. The main barriers to information were: the negative experiences of parents, the medical terminology, and communication problems. The sick child was rarely informed. DISCUSSION: The information given was in accordance, in content and form, with the data from Western and African literature. The lack of information given to the child has a dual explanation: the primacy of the community over the individual advocated by African culture and the non-integration of the rights of children in the current code of ethics. CONCLUSION: The information provided could be improved by practical training of physicians in the technique of breaking bad news to patients and their families and the use of a code of ethics in accordance with the principle of autonomy.

Childhood cancer: epidemiology in the pediatric oncology department of a university hospital center in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of 15 years worldwide. To contribute to better knowledge of childhood cancers in Africa. To determine the causes of pediatric cancers and compare them with the results of a previous study and with data available for sub-Saharan Africa. This observational, descriptive study of the data recorded from 2007 to 2015 in the pediatric oncology unit of the University Hospital Center of Treichville in Abidjan analyzes the general and the age- and sex-specific proportions of children under the age of 15 years with neoplasia according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, 3rd edition (ICCC.3). This study includes 863 new cases. The sex ratio (M/F) was 1.4, and the mean age 7 years (range: 3 months to 14 years 9 months). The neoplasia rate peaked in the group aged 5-9 years (38.6 %). The most common cancers were: lymphomas (44 %), retinoblastoma (11.7 %), renal tumors (10.1 %), leukemias (6.3 %), and soft tissue sarcomas (5, 9 %). Burkitt lymphoma (85.3 %) and nephroblastoma (90.8 %) were the dominant histological type of lymphoma and renal tumors. This study shows an increase in the annual number of new cases, and an epidemiology close to that reported in other centers in sub-Saharan Africa.