The radiotherapy utilization rate in pediatric tumors: An analysis of 13,305 patients

• Published in: Radiotherapy and oncology 2021-01, Vol.154, p.220-226
• Main Authors: Bishr, Mai K., Zaghloul, Mohamed S., Elmaraghi, Caroline, Galal, Ahmed, Abdelaziz, Mohamed S., Elghazawy, Hagar I., Shaheen, Haitham, Ramzy, Engy S., Mesbah, Ahmed, Eissa, Salma K., Hegazy, Rana, Hamza, Ahmed M., Elkhateeb, Nada, Mousa, Amr G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Cancer; Child; Germinoma; Humans; LMIC; Low- and middle-income countries; Palliative Care; Pediatric; Radiotherapy; Retrospective Studies; Utilization rate
• ISSN: 0167-8140; 1879-0887
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2020.09.058

•One-third of pediatric tumor patients require radiotherapy.•High pediatric radiotherapy utilization rate in a middle-income country.•Pediatric soft tissue sarcoma requires the highest radiotherapy utilization rate.•Palliative radiotherapy is frequently used for brainstem glioma patients.•Palliative radiotherapy is underutilized in childhood cancers. Although the radiotherapy utilization rate (RUR) is determined for most adult cancers, it is seldom reported in childhood tumors, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where the majority of pediatric cancer patients reside. This study aims to investigate the real-life RUR for pediatric tumors in a large LMIC center. The electronic files of patients treated at a single institution during 2010–2017 were reviewed and the RUR was defined as the percentage of patients who received at least one radiotherapy (RT) course from the total number of patients. A total of 4390 out of 13,305 pediatric cancer patients received at least one RT course with a RUR of 33%. The curative, salvage, and palliative RURs were 27.8%, 2%, and 5.7%, respectively. There was a considerable variation in the RUR between various tumors, ranging from 0% in choroid plexus papilloma and other rare tumors to 100% in intracranial germinoma. Moreover, the RUR varied among different stages within each tumor type. Overall, 753 patients received 920 palliative RT courses (range 1–9) at a median dose of 30 Gy. The most commonly irradiated metastatic sites were the bone (34%) and the brain (9.8%). This is the first analysis to provide valuable insights into the RUR for childhood tumors. Together with population-based pediatric cancer registries, this will help decipher pediatric RT needs and deficits. Additionally, the underutilization of palliative RT calls for multidisciplinary palliative care provision for pediatric cancer patients.