An Epidemiological Profile of Childhood Cancer in Benghazi, Libya (2020-2023)

Background: Childhood cancer in Libya represents a significant health concern. It is marked by late diagnoses and limited treatment resources. This study aims to describe the pattern of childhood cancer epidemiology in light of available medical records of cancer patients at the pediatric hospital in Benghazi. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by a retrospective review of medical records of patients admitted from 2020 -2023 at the Department of Hematology and Oncology in the pediatric hospital in Benghazi. Results: A total of 166 childhood malignancies were identified. The average age of patients was 6.9 years. The majority of cases were males more than females. Most of the patients were residents of Benghazi, followed by a higher number of cases reported from Al Baidya, Ajdabiya, Tobruk, Al Marj, Derna, and Toukra. About (38%) were diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic leukemia. Metastasis and Hodgkin Lymphoma were reported in 9%, and 5.4% of cases respectively, Data on stage at diagnosis was missing for the majority of cases about 85.5%, a higher percentage of cases were reported with stage IV and stage III. more than half of the patients received chemotherapy (59%), while (13.8%) received combined treatment. About 5% of cases were treated with surgery, treatment data was missing for 21% of cases. About 59 % of cases were diagnosed with other diseases and conditions. While 35.5% with no other diseases. However, data on comorbidity was missing for 5.4% of cases. The most common comorbidity was bronchopneumonia, followed by pancytopenia. Conclusion: Improvement of data quality and quality of care is essential for better cancer outcomes.