Retinoblastoma in Khartoum Oncology Hospital, Sudan: A 15-year single-center experience

Introduction: Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy of childhood.In Sudan, where resources and facilities serving the pediatric oncology population are limited, besides late presentation,retinoblastoma is considered a life threatening disease,so prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial. As there is no national registry in Sudan, data from Khartoum oncology hospital; being the largest in the country, may reflect the whole country's profile. Objective is to review retinoblastoma cases in Khartoum Oncology Hospital (KOH)through 15-years including prevalence, age, gender, pattern of presentation, geographical distribution and disease outcome. Methodology: Children 0-15 years with histologically confirmed retinoblastoma were followed from 2005 to 2019 in KOH, Sudan. The overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were estimated by the Kaplan Meier method. Results: From reviewed 4343 electronically registered and hard copies of childhood cancer patients; Retinoblastoma constitute 9.4%(410) of all pediatric patients. being the fourth most common malignancy and the second most frequent solid tumor. Most cases (n 1⁄4 324, 79%) occurred in patients aged between 1 and 5 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1.2. Unilateral eye presentation was 3- fold the bilateral. Presenting symptoms: Leucocorea (62%) , Mass (44%), Redness(10%) diminished ision(6%). The abandonment rate is high (33.4%) and contributes to low survival . The EFS was 52.9 %, Conclusion: High incidence of advanced disease. Abandonment rates are high. A cancer registry is needed.