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Copyright of Journal of Pediatric Disease / Türkiye Çocuk Hastalıkları Dergisi is the property of Turkish Journal of Pediatric Disease and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cancer care is progressively became as a significant worldwide challenge. Wars can cause destructions and delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment of displaced people. Cancer cure rates need to be improved in indefensible populations such as refugees. In this study, we purposed to highlight the clinical peculiarities and outcomes of refugee children with cancer in our hospital. Our purpose was to present our findings and contribute to improve the health care for these children. Seventy one refugee pediatric patients admitted to the oncology and hematology units of our hospital between April 2011 and January 2019 were included in this study. The demographic characteristics of the patients at the initial diagnosis, their countries of origin, living conditions, histopathological diagnoses, treatments, relapse, and mortality data were analyzed retrospectively from the patient files. The median age of patients was 6.5±4.5 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 39/32. While 44 patients (61.9%) presented with complaints and had primary diagnoses in our hospital, the remaining 27 patients (38.1%) were diagnosed in their country and applied to our hospital for treatment. Our mean follow-up period was 18.2±18.8 months (1-90 months). As a result, 44 patients (62%) were alive and 22 (31%) were dead. The survival rate without relapse in the second year was 83.6%. Two and fiveyear survival rates were 77.5% vs. 58.1% respectively. Compared to Turkish children, lower survival rates were found in refugee children. In addition to cancer-specific factors such as tumor type and stage, some problems such as shelter, communication, adherence to treatment, and difficulties supplying medicine may be responsible for lower survival rates in refugee children. Further studies are needed to improve the survival rates of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Increased survival rates in childhood cancers have led the researchers to focus on long-term side effects and possible risk factors for late nephrotoxicity related to the treatment regimens applied. Our aim is to evaluate drug-induced nephrotoxicity in survivors of childhood cancer and to investigate the compatibility of creatinine clearance with the estimated glomerular filtration rate. Methods: The presence of glomerular and tubular dysfunction has been screened among 59 childhood cancer survivors who had completed their treatment regimens with cisplatin, carboplatin, ifosfamide, and/or high dose methotrexate. Results: The mean age of patients was 10.7±5.5 years (2.5-23), and mean follow-up time was 2.6±2.1 years (0.5-8). Renal dysfunction was detected in 65% of the patients. The most prevalent manifestation of renal dysfunction was decreased glomerular filtration rate (n:19, 32.2%), and increased urinary β2-microglobulin excretion (n:12, 20.4%), followed by microalbuminuria (n:6, 10.1%). Survivors treated with combined chemotherapy regimens (cisplatin, carboplatin, ifosfamide) had significantly lower tubular reabsorption of phosphate than those treated with high dose of methotrexate. The glomerular filtration rate analysis was performed using different methods, and a moderate correlation (r=0.563, p=0.00) was found between estimated glomerular filtration rates calculated according to cystatin-C-based equations and Schwartz formula. Conclusion: Childhood cancer survivors demonstrated a high frequency of renal complications in the current study. We have shown that the calculation of the estimated glomerular filtration rate using the Schwartz formula or cystatin-C-based equations is compatible with the creatinine clearance in this specific patient group. In survivors of childhood cancer who cannot perform 24-hour urine collection, determination of estimated glomerular filtration rate is a more practical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: As the survival rates in children with cancer reach up to 80%, this improvement in survival increases the number of patients under follow-up. After cancer treatment is completed, patients are taken to follow-up surveillance to ensure the early detection of recurrence and the late effects of treatments. The frequency and necessity of surveillance screening tests are controversial. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of surveillance screening in the detection of recurrence. Material and methods: The files of 533 children who were diagnosed as having cancer at our pediatric oncology clinic between 2004 and 2013 were retrospectively evaluated. We looked at outcomes after recurrence, the timing and pattern of recurrence, the presence of symptoms during recurrence, physical examination findings, tumor marker levels, laboratory findings, and radiologic tests. Results: Of the 63 patients with recurrence, 23 were symptomatic and 40 were asymptomatic at the time of the recurrence. Tumor location and time of the recurrence did not affect the post recurrence survival. The median post-recurrence survival for patients was 13 (range, 1-98) months. The median post-relapse survival was 10 (range, 1-73) months in patients with symptomatic recurrence, and 16 (range, 1-98) months in patients with asymptomatic recurrence. It was determined that patients in whom recurrence was identified with surveillance tests had longer post-relapse survival time. The 5-year survival rate of 23 patients with symptomatic recurrence was 12.2%; this rate was 49.5% in asymptomatic patients (p<0.05). Conclusions: It should be considered that surveillance testing offers the benefit of prolonging post recurrence survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Ankara University Faculty of Medicine / Ankara Üniversitesi Tip Fakültesi Mecmuasi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)