Frontiers in oncology
From armed-conflict to care: clinical outcomes, diagnostic challenges, and psychosocial burden in children evaluated for suspected cancer displaced from Gaza and treated at a regional center of excellence
By Rihani R, Amer S, Barbar M and 5 others.
Abstract
Background
Conflict-related displacement profoundly disrupts pediatric cancer care, yet clinical outcomes data for evacuated children treated at regional oncology centers remain scarce. We describe the clinical characteristics, diagnostic challenges, nutritional and psychosocial burden, and outcomes of children evacuated from Gaza and treated at King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC), Jordan.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≤21 years evacuated from Gaza to KHCC between November 2023 and March 2026. Demographic and clinical characteristics, cancer type and stage, diagnostic concordance, nutritional and psychosocial status, and survival outcomes were assessed. Overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods.