1. Introduction
Cancer is a constant concern in the world [1-2], it is one of the
leading causes of death of adults [3], but relatively rare in
children under the age of 15 years [4] and accounts for only 1 to
4% of tumors in population [5]. One in ten deaths is attributable
to cancer worldwide [6.7]. Long considered the evil of developed
countries, cancer has now become a public health problem in developing
countries. In 2000 alone, global statistics showed the following figures
for cancer: 22.4 million people suffered from cancer, 10.1 million new
cases, 6.2 million deaths were attributable to it (12% of the 56
million deaths). Forecasts for 2030 indicate a 50% increase in cancer
rates, with 15 million new cases per year and an annual lethality of 10
million in all age groups [5,8,9]. In Brazzaville, a study case
shows that the incidence of childhood cancers was 6.4 cases per 10,000
inhabitants [10]. In Europe childhood cancers are leukemia
(40-45%), brain tumors (20%), nephroblastomas and other kidney tumours
(8%) monitoring of soft tissue tumours (7%), bone tumors (5%)
[11]. Mortality decreases significantly in developed countries and
remains high in developing countries [7]. In the coming decades,
cancer will be a major cause of morbidity and mortality over infectious
and parasitic diseases if health and hygiene measures improve [12].
In Lubumbashi, little is known about epidemiological data. A relative
frequency study of childhood cancers was conducted using data from the
pediatric oncology unit of University Clinics of Lubumbashi 2018 and
2019. During this period, 99 cases of childhood tumours were reported
[13]. It is useful to determine in the coming years the prevalence
of cancers in Lubumbashi, risk factors, treatment method, survival
especially for the most frequently encountered cancers. This requires a
systematic and forward-looking collection of data. This study aims to
determine the epidemiological and histological profile of childhood
cancers and to take stock of the current state of cancers encountered at
the university clinics in Lubumbashi (CUL) in order to propose the
relaunch of a national registry of childhood cancers in DR Congo.