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A cancer diagnosis is upsetting at any age but more so when the patient is a child and according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 4,00,000 children and adolescents of 0-19 years old develop cancer each year while the most common types of childhood cancers include leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain cancers, lymphomas and solid tumours, such as neuroblastoma, Retinoblastoma, Wilms tumours, bone tumours, Ewing’s sarcoma and Osteosarcoma. Paediatric oncology is a medical specialty focused on the care of children with cancer because children’s cancers are not always treated like adult cancers.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Parveen Jain, Senior Consultant and Head of Department, Oncology at Dwarka’s Aakash Healthcare, shared, “Majority of childhood cancers do not have a known cause. However, some are linked to genetic changes and some with intrauterine infections. Childhood cancers are not usually preventable or detected with screening. If detected early, childhood malignancies are highly curable with a cure rate of 80%. They are usually treated with chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, either as a single modality or combination of these.”
Dr Priyanka Verma, Consultant, Hemato Oncologist at Regency Superspeciality Hospital elaborated, “The cure rate of paediatric cancer is almost 80 percent but the disturbing fact is there is very less awareness about paediatric cancer in our country. A large portion of the incidence of childhood cancer in the society is still not addressed. The symptom of each cancer varies but the most prominent factors in all of them are poor growth, poor weight gain and decreased appetite. Cancer in children is quite different from that in adults in many ways”.
She added, “Many parents usually go to the nearest clinic if their child is experiencing any problem or do self-medication without consulting doctors. This results in late diagnosis and it often becomes nearly impossible to cure. First, only 3% of all cancers occur in children and secondly, they are fast growing but also very sensitive to chemotherapy treatment. Cure is a very realistic and practically achievable goal.”
Advising that one must get their children evaluated on seeing these symptoms, Dr Priyanka Verma highlighted, “It is not infectious and does not spread from one child to the other. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential for good cure rate. As the treatment is often long, we also suggest parents to provide home care to the child. In such case, it is very important that extra care is taken at home to ensure treatment discipline and regularity, good hygiene and balanced nutrition.”
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 do not have a known cause however, HIV, EBV, genetic mutations, ionising radiations and environmental factors may play a role in causing childhood cancers.
Dr Vani Ravi Kumar, Senior Consultant at RV Metropolis Lab, suggested, “Treatment of childhood cancer is by surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The improvement has been especially dramatic for a few cancers, particularly Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, which is the most common childhood cancer. Childhood cancer data systems are required for further improvements in the quality of care.”
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