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Trends in pediatric CNS tumors in Armenia: a multicenter retrospective study

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Abstract

Purpose

Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the most common solid malignancies in children worldwide, including in Armenia. The current study aims to analyze epidemiological data, treatment, and outcomes of children and young adults (≤25 years) with CNS tumors in Armenia during the last 26 years.

Methods

We collected data from pediatric and young adult patients treated in selected sites in Armenia from 1st January 1995 to 31st December 2020. Incidence by sex, age at diagnosis, time from first complaints to diagnosis, histopathology results, treatment strategies, complications, and overall survival (OS) rates were calculated.

Results

The multicenter data analysis revealed 149 patients with diagnosed primary CNS tumors over 26 years. Among them, 84 (56.4%) were male. The median age at diagnosis was 7 years (range, 3 months to 25 years), and the median time from the first complaints to diagnosis was 2 months (range, 1 week to 70 months). Medulloblastomas and other embryonal tumors (47), low-grade gliomas (32), and high-grade gliomas (22) were the most commonly diagnosed malignancies. Ependymomas, craniopharyngiomas, germ cell tumors, and other malignancies were observed in 22 patients. For 26 patients, no histopathological or radiological diagnosis was available. Follow-up information was available for 98 (65.8%) patients. The 5-year OS rate for the whole study group was 67.7%.

Conclusion

Consistent with international data, embryonal tumors, and gliomas were the most commonly diagnosed CNS malignancies in Armenia. Multimodal treatment was often not available in Armenia during the study period, especially for early cases.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend their sincere gratitude to Cherise Guess, PhD, ELS, for her invaluable editorial contributions to this article.

Funding

This research was generously supported by the Immune Oncology Research Institute and by American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, Hematology Center after Prof. R. H. Yeolyan, Yerevan, Armenia

    Julieta Hoveyan, Shushan Hovsepyan, Lusine Hakobyan, Lilit Sargsyan, Samvel Iskanyan, Saten Hovhannisyan, Irina Melnichenko, Mariam Minasyan, Ruzanna Papyan & Gevorg Tamamyan

  2. Immune Oncology Research Institute, Yerevan, Armenia

    Julieta Hoveyan, Shushan Hovsepyan, Ruzanna Papyan, Gevorg Tamamyan & Samvel Bardakhchyan

  3. Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Wigmore Hospital for Children, Yerevan, Armenia

    Eduard Asatryan

  4. Department of Pediatric Hematology, Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, Hematology Center after Prof. R. H. Yeolyan, Yerevan, Armenia

    Henrik Grigoryan, Anna Avagyan & Gevorg Tamamyan

  5. Department of Hematology and Pediatric Oncology, Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan, Armenia

    Henrik Grigoryan, Shushan Hovsepyan, Lusine Hakobyan, Lilit Sargsyan, Manushak Avagyan, Mariam Minasyan, Ruzanna Papyan & Gevorg Tamamyan

  6. National Center of Oncology named after V. A. Fanarjyan, Yerevan, Armenia

    Narek Manukyan

  7. Department of Radiation Oncology, National Center of Oncology named after V. A. Fanarjyan, Yerevan, Armenia

    Armine Lazaryan

  8. Hematology Center after Prof. R. H. Yeolyan, Yerevan, Armenia

    Samvel Danelyan

  9. Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan, Armenia

    Armen Muradyan

  10. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Jemma Arakelyan

  11. Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    Ibrahim Qaddoumi

  12. Global Pediatric Medicine Department, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    Ibrahim Qaddoumi & Frederick Boop

  13. HistoGen Pathology Center, Yerevan, Armenia

    Armen Mkhitharyan

  14. Department of Pathology, Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi, Yerevan, Armenia

    Armen Mkhitharyan

  15. Adult’s Solid Tumor Chemotherapy Department, Hematology Center after Prof. R. H. Yeolyan, Yerevan, Armenia

    Martin Harutyunyan & Samvel Bardakhchyan

Authors
  1. Julieta Hoveyan
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  2. Eduard Asatryan
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  3. Henrik Grigoryan
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  4. Shushan Hovsepyan
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  5. Anna Avagyan
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  6. Lusine Hakobyan
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  7. Lilit Sargsyan
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  9. Manushak Avagyan
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  10. Saten Hovhannisyan
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  11. Irina Melnichenko
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  12. Mariam Minasyan
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  13. Ruzanna Papyan
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  14. Narek Manukyan
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  15. Armine Lazaryan
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  16. Samvel Danelyan
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  17. Armen Muradyan
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  18. Jemma Arakelyan
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  19. Ibrahim Qaddoumi
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  20. Frederick Boop
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  21. Armen Mkhitharyan
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  22. Martin Harutyunyan
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  23. Gevorg Tamamyan
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  24. Samvel Bardakhchyan
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Julieta Hoveyan, Martin Harutyunyan, Samvel Bardakhchyan, Henrik Grigoryan, Anna Avagyan, and Shushan Hovsepyan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Julieta Hoveyan and Samvel Bardakhchyan and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julieta Hoveyan.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests. According to the local regulations no need for ethics board approval for retrospective studies.

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Hoveyan, J., Asatryan, E., Grigoryan, H. et al. Trends in pediatric CNS tumors in Armenia: a multicenter retrospective study. Childs Nerv Syst 40, 435–444 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-023-06179-6

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