EVALUATION OF PEDIATRIC INTRACRANIAL NEOPLASM IN TABRIZ, IRAN

Tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), occur relatively frequently during the early years of life. They are the most common solid tumors of childhood and are second only to leukemia in overall cancer incidence and account for a high proportion of deaths. In different studied performed in several countries, astrocytomas and other gliomas (combined) account for half of the CNS malignancies, followed by PNET/MB, and ependymomas, and then craniopharyngioma. We have undertaken a perspective study with 349 brain tumor patients, ranging from 0-14 years of age, throughout a five- year period (1998-2003). Who were admitted in Tabriz children hospital or were diagnosed in Tabriz Hafez imaging center, during radiological evaluation by CT. Craniopharyngioma was the most common type of tumors among patients studied in our Series, and astrocytomas was second and medulloblastoma was third common type. The Male/Female proportion of patients in total brain tumors according to our results is 1.56 and it is similar to previous studies. About medulloblastoma and ependymomas, Male/Female proportion of patients in this study is less than 1 (0.88, 0.7), but in previous series it seems to be more than 1 (about 1.4). Age- related distribution of brain tumors in children under the age 14 was similar to that of other series to some extent. Also, since the causes and risk factors of CNS cancers remain largely undetermined, we could not reach a significant relationship between the tumors and residency of patients. Hope our results make a useful for the future studies in this field, and differences obtained in this study with results of other series, can help us more and more in management and treatment strategies in brain tumors in children of our population.