Ten-years Study of Pediatric Leukemia Cases in Zanjan Province

Leukemia is the most common malignancy in childhood. It accounts for about one third of children's malignancy. The most common is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which is characterized by a majority of immature lymphatic precursors in the blood and bone marrow.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all patients under 16 years of age who were admitted to the pediatric ward of Ayatollah Mousavi Hospital in Zanjan between 2008 and 2017 with leukemia were included in the study. Data was obtained from patients' records and analyzed using SPSS software.

Fifty three patients less than 16 years of age were enrolled in this study. Forty six patients (86.8%) had ALL and 7 patients (13.2%) had AML. Twenty nine patients (54.7%) were male and 24 patients (45.3%) were female (45.3%). There was no significant difference in types of leukemia between girls and boys (P = 0.890). Thirty two (%60/3) of patients were under 5 years of age. In children 1-5 years old, Forty eight patients (90.6%) had ALL and 5 patients (4.9%) had AML. There was no significant difference between types of leukemia based on age groups (P = 0.076)
 

The most common type of leukemia in children is ALL, with the most prevalence in boys and younger than 5 years old children.