Retrospective Epidemiological Study of Pediatric Primary Central Nervous System Tumors in Mansoura University Hospital.

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the second most
common malignancy in children after leukemia and lymphoma combined. They
account for 26% of all pediatric tumors and are the leading cause of cancer-
related death in children. Advances in management have led to better survival.
Methods: A total of 62 patients with primary CNS tumors who attended the
Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Department, Mansoura University,
from the first of January 2012 to 31 March 2020 were evaluated retrospectively.
To assess their prognostic significance, all factors were correlated with overall
survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).
Results: The median OS was 105 months. The 1,2, 5, and 7-year OS were
80.7%, 63.7%, 59.9%, and 55.1% respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that
metastatic disease at diagnosis (p = 0.029) and radiotherapy site (p = 0.02) were
statistically significant factors influencing OS. However, in multivariate
analysis, metastatic disease at diagnosis remained the only significant predictor
of OS (p = 0.042). The median PFS was 86.08 months. The 1,2, 5, and 7-year
PFS were 72.7%, 65.3%, 60.3%, and 52.8% respectively. The univariate
analysis of PFS revealed statistically significant associations with gender
(P=0.047), chemotherapy (0.041), and radiotherapy site (0.02), while in
multivariate analysis, the radiotherapy site remained the only significant
predictor for PFS.
Conclusion: Our study provides epidemiological insights into pediatric CNS
tumors. Further prospective studies focusing on various pathological CNS tumor
subtypes with larger sample sizes are encouraged.