Malignant neoplasms in Jordanian children

Three hundred and seventy-three cases of malignant disease in children were diagnosed in Jordan during the 5-year period 1975-79. Lymphomas (28.7%) were the most frequently encountered tumours, followed by leukaemias (19.6%) and brain tumours (16.1%). One third of the children with lymphoma had Hodgkin's disease. Burkitt's lymphoma accounted for another one third, and lymphocytic lymphoma the remaining third. Abdominal involvement was frequently encountered in children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Our data are similar to those reported from the neighbouring Arab countries, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt, and contrast with the data available from developed countries in which leukaemias and brain tumours are more frequent than lymphomas.