EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE AND TRENDS OF LEUKEMIA AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 15 YEARS DURING (2002-2006) IN MOSUL CITY OF IRAQ

Aiming to determine the epidemiological profile and trend of leukemia among children under 15 years during (2002-2006) in Mosul city of Iraq, a retrospective analytical study had been conducted in the Ibn-Alather pediatric hospital in Nineveh governorate from the period of 1st of June to 31st of December 2007. The data collected from patient’s files and by interview of relatives of children under 15 years with leukemia diagnosed by blood film and bone marrow study, where details of each information had been recorded in a special questionnaire form. Out of total collected leukemia cases (n=128), 123 cases were proved to have acute leukemia and 5 cases were proved to have chronic leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the commonest type of acute childhood leukemia and among leukemia cases, male to female ratio was 2.2:1. The present study revealed that there is increase in the incidence rate and trend of childhood leukemia during the study period (2002-2006) in Mosul city, associated with increased death rate during these years. It was also showed that the highest incidence of childhood leukemia was among the age group of < 5 years, and showed no significant association of acute childhood leukemia with some of the risk factors which might be due to small sample size. Further wide scale studies in this field are recommended in future for better case detection, registration, evaluation, and management of the problem of childhood leukemia. A better training of laboratory staff, statistical staff and computerized records looks to be necessary too.