Neuroblastoma in Iran: An Experience of 32 Years at a Referral Childrens Hospital

Background: This survey aim was to evaluate the epidemiology and outcomes of neuroblastoma patientsin one the most important children referral hospitals in Iran as a model from developing countries. Materialsand
Methods: This retrospective, non-randomized analytic study was conducted on 219 newly diagnosedneuroblastoma cases.
Results: The age of patients ranged from 1-156 months with the average of 40.5±2.44,with a male/female ratio of 1.9/1. Of the total, 172 (78.5%) were children and 47 (21.5%) were infants Theadrenals were the most common primary site (60%). Stage 4 at diagnosis accounted for about 54% of all enrolledpatients. Infants had significantly better cumulative survival (85±8%) than children (33±7%) during the followup period and the survival rate improved from 33±7% in 1974-1994 to 58±9% in 1995-2005.
Conclusions: Thisstudy indicates that our patient population with neuroblastomas tends to have more advanced disease, perhapswith poor biologic markers, but our analysis shows that the outcomes have improved over 32 years althoughthe overall survival of Iranian neuroblastoma patients is still lower than developed countries. Late diagnosis,inability to determine risk group during the years of study and using single protocol for all enrolled patientscan be the reasons of lower survival rate.