The diagnosis of cancer is troubling at any age, but especially when the patient is still a child and according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 4,000,000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 years develop cancer each year, while the most common childhood cancers include leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain cancer, lymphomas and solid tumors, such as neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms tumors, bone tumors, Ewing’s sarcoma and osteosarcoma. Pediatric oncology is a medical specialty that focuses on the care of children with cancer because childhood cancers are not always treated like adult cancers.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr. Parveen Jain, Senior Consultant and Department of Oncology at Dwarka’s Aakash Healthcare, said: “Most childhood cancers have no known cause. However, some are linked to genetic changes and some to intrauterine infections. prevent or detect with screening If detected early, childhood malignancies are highly curable with an 80% cure rate and are usually treated with chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, either as a single modality or a combination of these.
dr. Priyanka Verma, consultant, hemato-oncologist at Regency Superspeciality Hospital, explains: “The cure rate of childhood cancer is almost 80 percent, but the disturbing fact is that there is very little awareness about childhood cancer in our country. of childhood cancer cancer in society is still not being addressed. The symptom of each cancer varies, but the most prominent factors in all of them are poor growth, poor weight gain and loss of appetite. Cancer in children differs from those in many ways in adults”.
She added: “Many parents usually go to the nearest clinic when their child has a problem or self-medicate without consulting doctors. This results in a late diagnosis and it often becomes nearly impossible to cure. First, only 3% of all childhood cancers and second, they grow quickly but are also very sensitive to chemotherapy. Cure is a very realistic and practically achievable goal.”
dr. Priyanka Verma advised that one should have children evaluated upon seeing these symptoms, stressing: “It is not contagious and does not spread from one child to another. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential for a good cure rate. Because the treatment often takes a long time, we also advise parents to provide home care to the child, in which case it is of great importance that extra care is taken at home with regard to discipline and regularity of treatment, good hygiene and a balanced diet.”
The WHO states that in high-income countries more than 80% of children with cancer are cured, while in low- and middle-income countries only less than 30% are cured. The vast majority of childhood cancers have no known cause, but HIV, EBV, genetic mutations, ionizing radiation, and environmental factors may play a role in causing childhood cancer.
dr. Vani Ravi Kumar, Senior Consultant at RV Metropolis Lab, suggested, “Treatment of childhood cancer is through surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The improvement was especially dramatic for some cancers, most notably acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer. Data systems for childhood cancer are needed to further improve the quality of care.”
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