What Is Childhood Cancers?
A child can develop any cancer type, but there are certain types of cancer that are more common among children. Children are more susceptible towards developing 12 major cancer types, which are together referred to as childhood cancer. Among the them the brain cancer and cancer of central nervous system and leukemia or blood cell cancer accounts for over 50% of the cases of childhood cancer.
Recently obtained statistics reveal that 1/3 of the children suffering from cancer are victims of leukemia. Majority of the children with leukemia have acute lymphoblastic form of the disease. On the other hand, the most common form of solid tumors occurring in children are the brain tumors; for instance medulloblastomas and gliomas. Children rarely develop other solid tumor types like Wilms tumors, neuroblastomas, osteosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma.
Common signs of leukemia experienced by children include:
- Dizziness, paleness, fatigue and lethargy
- Frequent infections, recurrence of infections
- Weight loss and decrease in appetite
- Headache, joint pain, pain in the legs and back, difficulty in walking or standing
- Unusual bleeding, easy bruising, bleeding gums, nose bleeds and petechiae, a condition marked by appearance of red colored pinpoints on skin
- Irritability
- Night sweats
- Swelling of the spleen, liver and lymph nodes and bloated stomach
- Persistent fever
Children with brain cancer are likely to experience the following symptoms:
- Seizure without having high fever
- Sleep apnea
- Balance problem, especially while walking
- Progressive weakness
- Repeating movement unnecessarily
- Unexplained nausea and vomiting
- Growth retardation, precocious puberty
- Vision problems
- Pain in the back
- Headache; the pain can be so strong that the child can even wake up in the middle of the night
- Irritability, changes in behavior and personality
- Excessive urination and thirst
What increases a child's risk of suffering from cancer? Both the last century and the current century have seen researches occurring in different corners of the globe to find out the risk factors of childhood cancers. Majority of these studies have pointed out childhood, fetal or parental exposure towards environmental toxins like solvents, pesticides and other types of household chemicals, medical conditions present in the mother during pregnancy, parental exposure to radioactive agents, postnatal feeding pattern, diet of the mother during pregnancy, reproductive history of the mother, childhood exposure to infections as the risk factors of childhood cancers. Currently studies are going on to find out whether use of fertility drugs, oral contraceptives or other medicinal drugs by the mother can increase her child's risk of developing cancer.
Factors Leading to Childhood Cancer
A recent study has revealed that cancer is the most common cause of death among children from 1 to 14 years of age. In this article, we have discussed factors that are mostly responsible for causing childhood cancers.
Genetic mutation: The exact causes of majority of the childhood cancers are still unknown. However, most of them occur as a result of non-inherited genetic mutations of the growing cells. As these genetic mutations take place randomly, preventing them is almost impossible.
Syndromes: According to some researches certain syndromes can act as the causative factors of some childhood cancer types. Syndromes like Gorlin syndrome, LiFraumeni syndrome, and neurofibromatosis are known to increase the risk of some cancer types in children.
Environmental factors: Finding out the [...]
Colorectal Cancer in Children
A child suffers from colorectal cancer when the cells of the lining of his rectum or colon grow and reproduce abnormally. The abnormally growing cells are referred to as cancer cells. They multiply rapidly and as the disease progresses start invading the normal tissues of the child’s body.
If you have family history of having colon polyps, you must get your little one checked for a medical disorder known as familial adenomatous polyposis. The signs of this medical disorder include altered bowel habits (constipation or diarrhea), black stools, weight loss, reduced energy and stomach discomforts. Majority of the cases of colorectal cancer in children occur due to this genetic disorder. Familial adenomatous polyposis is marked by formation of polyps, which are growths protruding within the [...]
Pediatric Blood and Cancer
Pediatric Blood and Cancer, which in short is referred to as PBC is a famous international medical journal. This journal provides detailed coverage of the basic clinical studies based on different malignant conditions of childhood affecting young adults, adolescents and pediatric groups. Original articles related to clinical and molecular genetics, biology, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of these conditions get published in every issue of PBC.
The journal is primarily aiming at providing a platform where ideas related to fundamental researches and advancement in the procedures using which children suffering from cancer get managed can be exchanged. A feature of the journal is called ‘International Notes’ allows the health professions of less affluent nations to communicate the [...]
Lung Cancer in Children
People of any age group can become a victim of lung cancer, which also include infants and children. Like most other serious medical conditions, managing lung cancer in children is extremely difficult. A child suffering from lung cancer may develop several secondary disorders like chronic infections, wheezing and colds. Majority of the children with this cancer type become weak gradually losing interest in normal childhood activities like playing outdoors, interacting with friends etc. Lung cancer makes a child extremely susceptible towards developing depression.
What are the signs of lung cancer in children? According to medical experts, the lung cancer signs in children resemble the symptoms of asthma significantly. They may experiences signs like fatigue, breathing difficulties and wheezing, [...]
Children with Cancer – Bringing about Positive Changes with Beads
Even adults face a hard time with cancer then one could only envisage what the scenario would be for teenagers or children with cancer.
Younger patients similar to grown-ups have emotional wants & implausible challenges faced while processing, enduring & surviving a cancerous road. With due credit to an Arizonian nurse, J. Baruch who identified such requirements, an exceptional association presently simplified the course in over seventy hospitals across the N. Zealand, U.S. & Japan.
The ‘Beads of Courage’ programme facilitates kids in displaying concrete insignias of how strong and brave they have been. Firstly, the child would be getting a piece of thread & beads for spelling out his/her first-name and with passage of therapy, his/her health-care provider would then [...]
Eight Prevalent Childhood Leukemia Symptoms
The widespread reason for cancer-related fatalities during infancy is leukemia, a cancer inflicting the tissues leading to blood cell irregularity, thus having damaging consequences on chromosomes/genes.
Leukemia has been observed to affect white or fair-skinned children to a greater extent as compared to dark-skinned children.
There are varying kinds of leukemia, however acute lymphoblastic leukemia (AML) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) are the two forms that prevalently affect infancy.
Ways of spotting whether one’s kid is having leukemia
Below explained are the 8 caveat indications of child leukemia that all must watch out for:
1. Susceptibility to antibiotic-resistant infections
Although child leukemia could lead to shooting fever and acute sickness, it has resistance to [...]
Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome- Diagnostic and Screening Options
Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) is detected clinically on the primary basis of appearance of physical characteristics. BWS is doubted in those infants that are bigger than normal size pertinent to their age, particularly in case their development is disproportionate (left and right sides growing without symmetry among them). Enlargement in tongue and abdominal wall anomaly, principally omphalocele that are additionally deemed commonly noted traits. A number of features are observed amongst kids having BWS, though not each kid having BWS would be having every one of the features mentioned below.
The physical features listed herewith are prevalent (widespread) and minor (uncommon).
Prevalent Traits:
Larger than standard size of the child’s body.
Enlarged tongue – Macroglossia.
Protrusion [...]
An Overview of Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome
Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome or BWS is a developmental regularization condition characterized by large-sized appearance of the body (macrosomia) and tongue (macroglossia), anomalies of the abdominal wall and kidney, an augmented likelihood of developing childhood cancers, lowered blood glucose levels (hypoglycaemia) among the newly born phase, and abnormal ears folds or cavities. Infants having BWS could additionally have disproportionally appearing left and right sides.
Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome Symptoms
The chiefly noticeable traits are congenitally present macrosomia and macroglossia.
The interior of the abdomen jutting via the navel (omphalocele) that is inborn and need surgical intervention prior to the child being discharged.
Maternal gestational complications inclusive of [...]
Wilms’ Tumor
Wilms’ tumor is a form of childhood cancer affecting the kidneys. The kidneys are duo bean-shaped organs situated above the shank, flanking the spine from both sides that are responsible for filtering and purifying the blood and production of urine.
Wilms’ tumor is additionally known as nephroblastoma (nephro – means kidney, blast-means primal cell, oma means tumor). It garners the fifth placing for the widespread form of childhood cancer and one of the prevalent abdominal tumors amongst infants. Nearly four hundred kids in the U.S. alone are identified with Wilms’ tumor on a yearly basis. The ailment affecting both sexes in analogous measures could arise in ages from infanthood till fifteen years of age, though it is normally detected when the child reaches three years of age.
Usually, [...]
Rhabdomyosarcoma
A rare form of Cancer, is a swiftly-spreading, vastly cancerous tumor that constitutes about half the cases of soft tissue sarcomas among infants. Less recurrently, other forms of soft tissue sarcomas are observed to affect infants namely fibrosarcoma, mesenchymoma, synovial sarcoma and liposarcoma. That is what in medical terms called Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Rhabdomyosarcoma symptoms
Rhabdomyosarcoma mostly leads to a conspicuous lumpy appearance on the body of the child.
In case the tumor is internally situated, then the symptoms arising would be dependent on its site. For instance, tumors that develop in the nasal passage could exert strain on the Eustachian tubes; tumor arising in the orbit of the eyes known as orbital tumor could make the eyes appear protruding whereas a tumor located [...]
