Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma in Sulaimaniya Province of Iraqi Kurdistan

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a highly curable malignancy. It is a unique neoplasm, in which the malignant cell, the Reed-Stenberg cell (RSC), it constitutes approximately 40% of all lymphomas that present during childhood. Objective: Obtain local data on the pattern of childhood and adolescent Hodgkin lymphoma in our community at presentation and then compare it with the international figure. Patients and Method: Eighty five patients with newly diagnosed pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma were admitted to Hiwa Hematology/Oncology hospital in the Sulaimaniya province of Iraqi Kurdistan were included in this study. They were studied prospectively from March 2006 to March 2014. Result: Data analyzed using SPSS software; version 13 and P-value obtained by Chi-square test, a median age at diagnosis was about 13.7 years with peak age of incidence was between 15-18 year, with male predominance. Most common site of the primary tumor was cervical lymph nodes; Nodular sclerosis was the most common histopathology and the majority was stage IIA. Conclusion: The stage in our study was age dependent but neither there was relation between the site of the primary tumor and the risk categories nor relation between risk categories and sex.