Cancer in children cannot be prevented, but it can be caught early . If the disease is detected in time, the chances of recovery increase and complex and risky treatments are avoided.
Parents or caregivers need sensitivity to recognize the signs of cancer so that the disease can be treated right away. According to data from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer , more than 1,000 children around the world are diagnosed with cancer every day. The number of children aged 0-19 who have cancer is estimated at 400,000 people a year. Most of them live in low- and middle-income countries.
Country of residence correlates with survival rate . The same data states that as many as 80% of pediatric cancer patients in high-income countries receive treatment and recover. Meanwhile, in low- and middle-income countries, only 20% of children with cancer recover. One factor in low survival rates in low- and middle-income countries is late diagnosis. Other factors are failure to make an accurate diagnosis, lack of access to therapy, treatment neglect, death from toxicity (a side effect of therapy), and disease recurrence.
WHO has a goal of increasing the life expectancy of children with cancer to 60% by 2030. To achieve this goal, public understanding of childhood cancer, including its symptoms, needs to be increased. In most cases, these are leukemias :
The most common cancer in the very young is blood cancer (leukemia) followed by retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye nerve) and osteopesarcoma (cancer of the bones). Symptoms of leukemia include paleness, weakness, decreased appetite, and unexplained fever . Children may also experience enlarged liver and spleen, bone pain, bleeding, and an enlarged scrotum . Meanwhile, one of the common symptoms of cancer in children is persistent infection . This causes the child to often have a fever . Other symptoms are nausea and vomiting , sudden and persistent visual changes.
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to introduce and apply a healthy lifestyle to children to reduce their risk of cancer, both as children and as adults. Even as medical technology is growing, treatment of childhood cancer can be hampered by the limited number of medical personnel and therefore early diagnosis can help the health system organize treatment for every child more quickly. Clarifications : this post is intended exclusively to raise awareness among our readers and does not replace the opinion of doctors, qualified researchers and/or institutions. For further information on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, we recommend that you contact the doctors in your area.
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