Cancers in Children

                                     Children Cancers 

Children do suffer from cancers but cancers are uncommon during childhood.In the developed countries where statistical data are more complete,cancers affect 120-160 per 1,000,000 children under the age of 15 years every year.approximately one in every 300-500 people will develop cancers before their 20th birthday.

Why do Children Get Cancers ?

     at least 95 per cent of children's cancers occurs spontaneously.Like adult cancers, it is not known why one person gets it and another dose not.some childhood cancers, however, maybe be due to infections passed from parent to child ( for example,infections from the Hepatitis B virus). Other causes range from genetics to radiation mishaps.

Are Cancers In Children Similar To Those in Adults ?

    No, Cancers in children are quite unique.Even for cancers of the same type, For example Non Hodgkin Lymphoma or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - the biological features and the responses to treatment are very different between children and adults.In genaral, The cure rates outcomes of childhood cancers are highly than those of adult cancers.

How are Cancers in Children Treated ?

After the diagnosis is certified and the cancer has been classified and staged, the doctor will decide what is the best treatment of combination of treatment that the child would require, The treatment options include surgery,chemotherapy,radiotherapy, and other biologic agents such as antibodies and vaccines.

What are the Outcomes of Treatment ?

Most childhood cancers are curable, and children with cancers can lead a normal childhood.Many children return to school life after the treatment. On the whole,70-75 % of children diagnosed to date are expected to be long-term survivors and thus cured - provided they are treated by experienced medical teams with supportive facilities.

What are some Children's Cancers ?

There are quite a few,but the most common ones are;

* Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL]

   this is the commonest type of cancer seen in children. Almost  30%  of childhood cancers are ALL. The affected child may have fever, Bruises ,tiring easily,and enlargement of the glands in the neck.Most children with ALL need chemotherapy only;some many require radiation treatment to the brain. On the whole, 75-80% of children can be cured after treatment.

* Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma [NHL]

   This is a cancer of the Lymphatic glands,The affected child may have fever,tired easily,and enlargement of the glands in the neck or inside the chest. Some children may complain of difficulty in breathing of abdominal pain.on the whole,over 80% of children can be cured with chemotherapy.Only a small proportion of children will need surgery or radiation treatment.

* Brain Tumours

   brain Tumours are the commonest form of solid cancer in children,accounting for 15-20% of the cases. The brain tumours form when cells in the brain or nervous system start growing abnormally and clump to form a tumour,which then disrupts normal brain functions. symptoms include headache,vision problems,vomiting and weakness of one side of the body, unsteadiness in walking and epilepsy. For the most common brain cancer,the affected child will need surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.Cure rates are between 69-90% when the tumour has not spread.

* Germ cell tumours 

   This is a  cancer of the tested in boys and ovaries in girls,The cancer may occur inside the abdomen, chest, neck or coccyx (tailbone) near the anus. Some cases need surgery,while others can be treated with chemotherapy,Nearly 75-90 per cent of patients are cured.

* Osteosarcoma [or Osteogenic Saracoma ]

   this is a cancer of the bones and commonly present as a swelling in the thigh or leg bones. Treatment consists of surgery and chemotherapy.About 60-70% of children can survive long-term after treatment when the cancer has not spread.





 

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Blood cancers and treatments

Blood cancers refer to a group of cancers where the cancerous cells derive from the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.These cancers include the Leukaemias & pre-leukaemias (now Known as Myelodysplastic syndrome),Myelomas (and other plasma cell cancers)and the Lymphomas.Within each category,these are many sub-types.Each sub-type may have different characteristics and of course,may have different response to treatment.Some are ultra-aggressive and while other may have a very high  chance of a cure.  

Signs and symptoms 

          While the various cancers are very different in the causes and prognosis,very often,the presenting symptoms can be very similar, Symptoms of anaemia are common as many of these blood cancers present with a low red blood cell count (anaemia) as a result of a damaged marrow These symptoms may include tiredness,poor stamina,breathlessness,giddiness and poor appetite.Most patients are pale and often,this pallor can be noticed by friends or family members.In addition to red cell problem,patients with blood cancers may have frequent infections.witch may lead to recurrent fevers of fevers that do not resolve.Sometimes,enlarged Lymph nodes may present as lumps felt or enlarged spleens may present  as a heaviness in the abdomen.Bleeding problems are common with Leukaemias and will manifest as easy bruisability,gum bleeding or nose bleeding.

Who are at Risk? 


         While there ae many possible causes for blood cancers,very often it is very different to able to positively one in a particular patient.HIV infection may be the only exception,It is well Known that many patients with HIV develop lymphomas in the course of their illness,This is due to the dysfunctional immune system that eventually lead to the creation of an malignant clone of lymphocytes.Other viruses such as Epstein barr virus had also been are well Known factors that may lead to leukaemia formation.


Diagnosis

        diagnosis can easily be made with clinical examination  as the symptoms and signs are often quite clear.However,confirmation must still be made from blood tests,bone marrow examination,radiological scans and a lymph node biopsy.with advances in medicine,high-tech investigations such as chromosome analysis (cytogenetic analysis ), flow cytometry,gene mutations and Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan ) nad Helped to make improve immensely on prognosis analysis (the ability to predict response & outcome).


Treatment Methods

        Treatment is usually in the form of chemotherapy for most blood cancers and the cure rate had improve tremendously since the early days of chemotherapy in the 1960-1970s.with the introduction of immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibodies like anti-CD20,cure rates for lymphomas had made a  quantum leap forward.Targeted therapy had also made certain Leukaemias like Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia a lot of less dangerous.Long-term surviaval in  Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia is now easily achieved with using targeted therapy like Imatinib and Dasatinib,Stem cell Transplant is another treatment modality that had truly made a quantum improvement in the cure rate of many blood cancers,While traditionally used mainly in Leukaemias,Stem cell Transplant can be also be used in Lymphomas and Myelomas,leading to improved cure rates and long-term survival.
        all in all,the outlook for blood cancers for blood cancers is certainly a lot better in the last 10 years and with the development of newer high-tech investigation and better medication in the near future,the outlook may be even brighter...............

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