Many cancers in children are diagnosed early by the child’s doctor or family. However, cancers that develop in children can be difficult to detect immediately, as they are similar to common diseases and injuries in children. Children often get sick or have bruises and swellings on their bodies. This can hide the sign of early-stage cancer. Families should have their children undergo regular medical checkups and check for unusual signs or signs that do not improve.
Symptoms or signs that may be considered unusual include:
– An unusual lump or swelling
– Unexplained pallor and weakness
– Easy bruising and bruising
on the body Persistent pain in a certain part
– Limping
– Unexplained fever or illness that does not heal despite treatment
– Frequent headaches, often resulting in vomiting
– Sudden changes in vision
– Sudden unexplained weight loss
Depending on the type of cancer, other symptoms are also possible. Many of these symptoms may be caused by injury or infection rather than cancer. However, if your child has any of these symptoms, you should immediately consult your pediatrician and ensure that he receives the necessary treatment.
Your doctor will first ask questions about symptoms. He or she will then examine your child. If cancer is a possible cause at the end of the exam, he or she may request some imaging tests or other tests. In some cases, if an abnormal swelling or tumor is detected, some or all of the tumor may need to be removed. In this way, possible cancer cells are examined under a microscope. This procedure is called a biopsy.
Early diagnosis in pediatric cancers;
Approximately 175,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year in low- and middle-income countries. This figure is underestimated as there are many countries without a pediatric oncology department and unreported cases are not taken into account. Although the number of cancer cases in children is less than in adults, it causes death of approximately 90,000 of pediatric patients. In high-income countries, cancer is seen as the second cause of death in children aged 5-14 years after accidents and injuries.
According to the cancer registry system carried out by the Turkish Pediatric Oncology and Turkish Pediatric Hematology Society since 2002, approximately 3,000 children in Turkey and approximately 175,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer every year. The most common types of cancer in children worldwide are leukemia, brain tumors, lymphoma and neuroblastoma (a tumor that develops in nerve cells), and kidney cancers. When we look at the type and distribution of cancer, unlike western countries, leukemia is in the first place, lymphoma is in the second place, and brain tumors are in the third place. When looking at individual tumor types, it is said that the success of treatment in tumors such as Wilms tumor, Hodgkin’s disease and retinoblastoma is around 90 percent. It has been stated that the success of treatment in leukemia, which is a type of blood cancer, exceeds 80 percent. Treatment success is very good when other pediatric cancers are detected at an early stage.
In recent years, it has been stated that with the improvement in the treatment of pediatric cancers, recovery rates have increased from 10% to 80%. However, recovery rates may vary from country to country. While the recovery rate in pediatric cancers is around 80% in developed countries, this rate is around 10-40% in underdeveloped countries. In Turkey, the cure rate for pediatric cancers is 65-70%.
In order to increase the chance of treatment, it is very important to raise awareness of families about the symptoms of pediatric cancers. Thanks to early diagnosis in cancer, a faster and more positive response is obtained from early-initiated treatment. Since the life expectancy is longer in children, it can be said that the treatment success of pediatric cancers is higher.
Considering the success rates in the treatment of pediatric cancers in our country, it is seen that a long way has been achieved in this area. This is a very pleasing and proud picture for us oncology physicians.
