Survival Rate of Pediatric Lymphoma in Hiwa Hospital at Sulaymaniyah City, Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

Background: Malignant lymphoma has gained popularity in various countries worldwide. Consequently, it is one of the most common malignancies of children in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Objective: To find the correlation between sociodemographic data, clinical characteristics, risk group classification, and laboratory findings of pediatric patients with lymphoma, together with the correlation between survival rates and survival time among both types of lymphoma. Patients and methods:

In this retrospective, cross-sectional, hospital-based study, the recorded data of 104 pediatric lymphoma patients (aged <18 years) from Hiwa Haematology/Oncology Hospital and Shorsh Teaching Hospital, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, were obtained from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025. A standard validated questionnaire was used to record the patient's sociodemographic data, including clinical data and laboratory findings. Then, the correlation between variables was determined.

Results: The patients’ mean age was 12.00 ± 3.59 years, and their mean BMI was 17.20 ± 4.34 kg/m². The time from the onset of lymphoma to diagnosis ranged from 0 to 13 months. Most patients were males (70.2%), from low-income families (43.8%), living outside of the cities (65.4%), had NHL (53.8%) of stage II (28.6%), had no B symptoms (57.7%), received chemotherapy alone (55.8%), completed treatment (85.6%), and were alive (83.7%). Significant correlations were found between age group, BMI, lymphoma stage IV, lymphoma type/subtype, receipt of chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy, lactate dehydrogenase level, and survival rate of the patients. Additionally, HL patients had a longer survival rate and survival time (p≤0.05).

Conclusions: NHL was more common and predominantly of high grade, linked to a lower survival rate and shorter survival time.