Cancer in the pediatric age group, which spans the period from the neonate through adolescence, differs considerably from cancer in adults. These differences extend from diagnostic type, which ultimately influences aetiology, biology, and natural history, relative incidence and distribution frequency, clinical presentation and manifestations, and response to therapy and outcome.
Frequently observed epithelial malignancies seen in adults rarely exist in children and the spectrum of paediatric cancer types varies in distribution frequency by age group.
Acute leukaemia, and more specifically, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is the most common form of malignancy seen in the paediatric age group. With respect to solid tumours, primary neoplasms of the central nervous system, distinct from the distribution pattern seen in adults, the majority arising in the posterior fossa and of primitive neuroectodermal rather than glial origin, outnumber all other solid tumours in the paediatric age group.
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