293 paediatric cancers registered

About 293 paediatric cancers (age 0-14) were registered in 2018 accounting for 3,7% of all cancers in the country amid calls to scale up awareness programmes, the Zimbabwe National Cancer registry has revealed.

The most common paediatric cancers are leukemia (18%), renal tumours (17%), retinoblastoma (15%), lymphoma (13%), soft tissue sarcomas (11%), central nervous system tumours (8%) and bone tumours (6%).

Addressing stakeholders during the World Childhood Cancer Day commemorations organised by KidzCan, Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer focal person Loice Hlatshwayo said they faced challenges including late presentation of patients mainly due to lack of awareness, delayed diagnosis as well as treatment abandonment mainly due to financial constraints.

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