Evaluation of Pathway to Diagnosis of Pediatric Brain Tumors in Tamil Nadu, India.

Purpose: Delayed diagnosis and poor awareness are significant barriers to the early intervention of pediatric brain tumors. This multicenter observational study aimed to evaluate the baseline routes and time to diagnosis for pediatric brain tumors in Tamil Nadu (TN), with the goal of promoting early diagnosis and timely referrals in the future.

Methods: A standard proforma was used to retrospectively collect information on demographics, diagnosis, referral pathways, and symptoms of incident pediatric brain tumor cases between January 2018 and October 2020 across eight tertiary hospitals in TN.

Experience with Generic Pegylated L-asparaginase in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia from a Tertiary Care Oncology Center in South India.

Dhaarani Jayaraman  Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a common type of leukemia in children. The innovator pegylated L-asparaginase has several advantages over native L-asparaginase; however, its use in India is limited due to availability and cost. Therefore, a generic pegylated L-asparaginase can be considered as an alternative to the innovator molecule.

Choice of Place of the Death of Children with Cancer during End-of-Life Care - Parent's Perspectives in a Developing Country.

Objectives: The place of a child's death is an indicator of the quality of paediatric palliative and end-of-life care. This study aimed to identify the choices of parents about the place of death of their children with cancer and to evaluate whether they had any regrets about their choices retrospectively.

Material And Methods: All children who were treated in our centre for the past 9 years with palliative intent treatment to improve their quality of life were included in this study.

Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and Its Correlation with Induction Outcomes.

Arathi Srinivasan  The aim was to study cytogenetics and molecular genetic profile in pediatric B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and correlate it with induction outcomes.  A retrospective study of cytogenetics and molecular genetics of 98 children with B-cell ALL from January 2013 to May 2018 was done. Cytogenetics and molecular genetics were done in the bone marrow using multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and G-banded karyotyping, respectively.

Role of Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Diagnosis of Respiratory Viruses in Febrile Neutropenic Patients.

Background Neutropenic patients are commonly affected by respiratory infections, whereas respiratory viral infections causing high morbidity and mortality are routinely diagnosed in developing countries like India. Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence of respiratory viral infections in pediatric cancer patients with febrile neutropenia.  Methods This prospective study was performed on 45 neutropenia patients with hematological malignancies.

Renal Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor Mimicking Wilms' Tumor in a Young Boy: A Case Report of a Rare Entity with Review of the Literature.

Primary renal primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) are an extremely rare entity. The tumor is very aggressive presenting with metastasis and carries a dismal prognosis. We describe the case of renal PNET in an 11-year-old boy with a solid cystic lesion in the right kidney with a thrombus in the inferior vena cava and lung nodules, mimicking Wilms' tumor.

Mercaptopurine induced myelosuppression in a child with a rs116855232 homozygous variant.

Introduction: Mercaptopurine (6-MP) is the backbone of the consolidation and maintenance therapy for paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Nevertheless, it can cause critical myelosuppression. Predicting adverse reactions to 6-MP often involves the investigation of pharmacogenetic variants; in particular thiopurine S-methyltransferase () and nudix hydrolase 15 ().

Immunohistochemical expression of beta-catenin in hepatoblastoma and its clinical significance.

Background: Primary hepatic malignancies account for 0.5-2% of all solid tumours in childhood. Hepatoblastoma, a rare embryonic tumour in the general population, represents the most frequent primary hepatic malignancy in the paediatric age group, with an incidence of one new case per million under 15 years of age, median age at diagnosis being 1 year.

Sporadic Burkitt Lymphoma Involving the Orbit - A Report of Two Cases and Review of Literature.

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive, rapidly growing B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma found predominantly in children and has three clinical subtypes. The sporadic subtype, seen in non-endemic areas, typically presents as an abdominal mass. Primary orbital involvement is rarely reported.

Role of pre-operative percutaneous embolization in orbital alveolar soft part sarcoma - An experience from a tertiary eye-care center.

Purpose: To describe the clinic-radiological, pathological profile, and management outcomes of primary alveolar soft-part sarcoma (ASPS) of the orbit.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all histopathologically proven cases of orbital ASPS that presented between May 2016 and September 2019 was done. Data collected included demographics, clinical features, imaging characteristics, metastatic workup, management, and follow-up.

A Journey Across Oceans With a Heavy Heart: Rare Presentation of a Pediatric Malignancy.

Myeloid sarcoma, due to extramedullary deposition of myeloblasts, is one of the rare presentations in acute myeloid leukemia. We present an extremely rare case of a 5-year-old boy with cardiac myeloid sarcoma. Noninvasive mode of diagnosis, timely initiation of chemotherapy and meticulous supportive care are the keys to successful outcome.

Cytogenetic and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization Profile of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in a University Hospital in South India.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytogenetic and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) profile in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), referred to a university hospital in a 5-year 6-month period.

Subjects And Methods: Cytogenetic analysis of the bone marrow aspirate specimens of 91 patients was performed by standard Giemsa (G)-banding and interphase FISH (iFISH).

Results: The frequency of chromosomal abnormalities detected by G-banding was 29.

Pharmacogenetic evaluation of 6-mercaptopurine-mediated toxicity in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients from a South Indian population.

To evaluate the variants in the genes coding for the proteins involved in thiopurine and folate metabolism with treatment related adverse effects (TRAEs). Eleven variants in seven candidate genes were genotyped in 127 pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients under 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) treatment to infer the association of selected genotypes with TRAEs. Among the genotypes inspected, (c.

Evaluation of serum procalcitonin, serum interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 as predictors of serious infection in children with febrile neutropenia and cancer.

Background: Early diagnosis of sepsis in children with febrile neutropenia remains difficult owing to non-specific clinical and laboratory signs of infection. There is a need to assess the utility of inflammatory markers in clinical risk assessment for their ability to discriminate between low-risk and high-risk neutropenic patients since presently there is insufficient data to recommend their routine use.

Methods: This is a prospective study of children on therapy admitted with febrile neutropenia and sampled for serum procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) at admission.

Surveillance of adverse drug reactions and drug-drug interactions with pediatric oncology patients in a south Indian tertiary care hospital.

Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of occurrence of adverse drug reactions and drug-drug interaction in a pediatric oncology unit of a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in the Department of Pediatric Oncology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Hospital, India. Patients were monitored actively for the occurrences of any adverse drug reaction during the study period.

Rosette-forming Glioneuronal Tumor in the Optic Pathway of a Child.

Rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor is a rare World Health Organization grade I neoplasm, primarily involving the posterior fossa. Most cases have been reported in young adults. Although maximal surgical resection is advocated, a precise treatment modality is yet to be established.

MicroRNA 146a Polymorphisms and Expression in Indian Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Background: MicroRNAs (miR) have been reported to be involved in hematopoiesis and in the pathogenesis of several hematological malignant neoplasms. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in human miR genes may alter the expression of those genes and influence the predisposition to childhood leukemia.

Objective: To evaluate the association of rs2910164 G>C, rs57095329 A>G and the expression of miRNA-146a in ethnic South Asian children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).