Cancers In Children

Even though unusual, children also suffer from different types of cancer.
Its always a sad event in a family when a small child is diagnosed to be a cancer victim.

The World Health Organisation estimates about 4 lakh children get cancer every year.

The good news is that many cancers in children are curable, especially blood and lymph node cancers.

How do you suspect cancer in a child, most often child will lose weight quickly and not eat properly. There will be fever and lumps in neck or abdomen.

In case of blood cancer the child may bleed in the mouth or from nose or pass blood in motion.

It is important not to neglect any unusual symptom in a child and get tests done in a childrens hospital facility.

In India many of these cancers are not picked up early and treated inadequately, thereby causing deaths and poor outcomes, Most cases of childhood cancers have no known cause.
Rarely viruses or changes in genes may be the culprit.

The various types of cancers in children include Acute Leukemias, Hodgkins lymphoma, Tumours in eye, kidney, bone, muscle called blastomas and Brain tumours.

Generally about 80% of these are curable in advanced countries.
In India due to various issues, only 20 to 30% get cured.

Since most of the affected families are below the poverty line, we need better treatment facilties in government hospitals and also childhood cancer specialists in these hospitals.