Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Updated : July 26, 2018 11:34 AM IST
A recent study has revealed that the deadly Zika virus can now be a potential cancer treatment for neuroblastoma, a rare but severe cancer that affects a developing embryo or fetus, thereby attacking the child even before birth. While we talk a lot about the different forms of cancer affecting adults, we tend to skip those that affect children. Although cancer among children is rare compared to its prevalence in adults, in India, around 50,000 children and adolescents in the age group of 0 to 19 years get diagnosed with some type of cancer every year, shows a study. In case you are not aware of the most common type of cancers in children, here is what you need to know about them and how to treat them.
Leukemia: Known to be the most common childhood cancer and accounting for 30% of cancers in children, leukemia is the cancer of bone marrow and blood. Children often get two kinds of leukemia acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Bone and joint pain, fatigue, weakness, pale skin, bleeding and bruising are the most familiar symptoms of leukemia. Due to quick growth and spread of acute leukemias, the treatment should ideally begin the moment they are found.
Treating it: Chemotherapy is the major treatment for leukemia in children. For those suffering from higher risk leukemias, high-dose chemotherapy along with a stem cell transplant is the best option. Targeted drugs, immunotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy are other treatments that can be used in special circumstances.
Brain and Spinal cord tumours: These are the second most common type of cancer found in children covering about 26% of childhood cancers. This type of cancer mostly affects the brain and the central nervous system. These tumours can be of many types and treatment and approach for each of these types is different. A majority of brain tumours initiate in the lower parts of the brain like in cerebellum or brain stem, causing headaches, nausea, vomiting, blurred or double vision, dizziness, seizures, trouble in walking and handling objects, along with other symptoms.
Treating it: The main treatments for children suffering from brain and spinal cord tumours include surgery for removing the tumour, radiation therapy for brain and spinal cord, chemotherapy, targeted therapy drugs and drugs to act on the symptoms, improving them. In several cases children get a combination of these treatments based on the type of tumour and other related factors. Treatment for brain and spinal cord tumour is customised and is planned according to the individual needs of the patients by checking on side effects.
Neuroblastoma: This is a type of cancer that affects a child even before birth and grows in early forms of nerve cells in a developing embryo or fetus. It contributes to 6% of cancer in children and can be found in infants and young children below the age of 10 years. While the tumour can start from anywhere, it mostly begins in the belly that can be seen in the form of a swelling causing bone pain and fever.
Treating it: Surgery, chemotherapy, targeted drugs, radiation therapy, stem cells and bone marrow transplants, retinoid therapy and immunotherapy are the most common treatment for neuroblastoma. Targeted delivery of radionuclides is an evolving form of treatment for neuroblastoma which can also be used to deal with recurrence of the cancer.
Wilm's tumour or nephroblastoma (that begins in the kidneys), lymphomas (that affects the immune system cells- lymphocytes), rhabdomyosarcoma in skeletal muscles, retinoblastoma in the retina and bone cancers like osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma are other cancers that are found in children.
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