Pattern of childhood leukaemia in University College Hospital, Ibadan

Abstract

Background: Leukemias are hematological malignancies characterized by unregulated clonal proliferation of hematopoietic cells. Objective: To determine the pattern of childhood leukemia in Ibadan. Methodology: This was a retrospective study of leukemia cases diagnosed at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan between January 1991 and December 2010 in children less than 15 years of age. Data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Results: There were 64 cases of childhood leukemia, accounting for 10.2% of childhood cancers seen during this study period. The male to female ratio was 2:1 and modal age group was between 10 and 14 years. Thirty (46.9%) cases were acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 22 (34.4%) were acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and 12 (18.8%) were unspecified acute leukemias. There was no case of chronic myeloid or lymphocytic leukemia. Conclusion: There has been a relative increase in the frequency of leukemia cases at UCH, Ibadan, which may be largely explained by increased awareness and referrals. There is a need for further collaborative multicenter studies of childhood leukemias in Nigeria and other developing countries and focused research on childhood leukemias in order to unravel the a etiology.