Clinicopathologic and Survival Characteristics of Childhood and Adolescent Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors in Center of Iran

Background: The brain and spinal cord tumors account for 15% to 20% of all childhood malignancies. It is important to know the epidemiologic characteristics and survival of these patients to better understand the disease and the factors affecting its prognosis. The aim pf this study was to characterize the clinicopathology and survival rate of childhood and adolescent brain and spinal cord tumors in center of Iran. Materials and methods: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out using a retrospective cohort design. Thirty patients with brain and spinal cord tumors who referred to Shahid Sadoughi and Rahnemoon hospitals in Yazd from 2006 to 2016 and aged 1 to 18 years were evaluated. . The epidemiologic characteristics, survival, and the factors affecting the survival of brain and spinal cord tumors were investigated. Results: The findings showed that between 30 studied patients, brain and spinal cord tumors were more common in males (19 males and 11 females). The average age of the patients was 8.60 ± 5.70 years.  Fifteen (50%) patients survived. Seventeen (57%) patients were resident in Yazd province and 13 (43%) were from southern Iran. Twenty two patients (73.3%) had recurrence after recovery. The average of survival was 36 months, with an average of 27 months in females and 37 months in males. However, this difference was not significant. The most common tumor was gliomas. There was no significant relationship between the mean of survival with age, gender, geographical status, or type of treatment (P value> 0.05); however, there was a significant relationship between the year of tumor diagnosis and survival (P value=0.0134). Conclusion:  It seems that survival of the brain and spinal cord tumors in children and adolescence is a multifactor event and it is affected by various factors.