Health Matters
Dr. Sainath Bhethanabhotla, senior consultant & head, medical-oncology at Star Hospitals of Financial District, Hyderabad on Wednesday said ‘Childhood cancer is curable’ and in developed countries, the cure rate is around 90 per cent as against 50 per cent in India.
Every year, more than three lakh children are diagnosed with cancer around the world , however in India, every yearalmost 50,000 new cases of paediatric cancer are diagnosed, Dr. Sainath said.
“This accounts for three per cent of all cancers in India and 20 percent of all childhood cancers in the world. An estimated 50 to 60 per cent of them succumb to the disease in comparison to 10 per cent in developed countries,” he said.
A cancer diagnosis is unpleasant at any age, but especially for children, the Senior Consultant said childhood cancers are rare; however, they can be treated and often cured.
According to the Indian Cancer Society, Cancer affects people of all ages, including children. However, cancer in children is uncommon and treatable if diagnosed early and treated correctly.
While referring to types of cancers, he said the most common cancers in children are blood cancers (acute leukaemias being the most common), followed by brain tumours, bone tumours, soft tissue sarcomas, liver tumours, and renal tumours. They are biologically different from the cancers that occur in adults. Hence, they behave differently, and the outcome also varies.
Many cancers in children are discovered early, either by the child’s doctor or by parents or family members. However, tumours in children might be difficult to detect at first since the symptoms are sometimes similar to those of far more common illnesses or traumas, he pointed out.
Children frequently feel sick or have bumps and bruises, which might hide the early signs of cancer, Dr Sainath said.
Childhood cancer is not frequent, but it’s crucial to have your child tested by a doctor if they have strange signs or symptoms that do not go away, such as: Malaise ; Fever; Swellings in the neck; Headache ;Persistent uncontrolled vomiting ; Seizures ;Persistent non resolving earache; – Any Soft tissue mass in the body and Persistent bone pain, he said.
Survival rate, he said most children with cancer have great outcomes, however in developed countries, the cure rate is approximately 90 per cent while in India,it is almost 50 percent. The reason for this variation is late stage of presentation, treatment abandonment, social stigma, financial limits for treatment completion, “the Senior Consultant said.
Apart from normal vaccination, the HPV vaccine is recommended for girls aged 9 to 26 for the prevention of cervical cancer in adulthood. Currently, there is no specialized preventive cancer vaccination for children with malignancies, he said.
Chemotherapy is used to treat blood cancers, and the response and cure rates are outstanding. Solid tumours, depending on their form and stage, require either multimodality or single modality treatment. These treatments include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, Dr. Sainath added.
