Most childhood cancers fall into several specific types. Common adult cancers like lung, breast, colon cancer rarely occur in children or adolescents. Childhood cancers are considered to be more aggressive than adult cancers. Although cancer is becoming very common, it still an uncommon illness in children. There are 2-4% of all cancer patient in India are children, and around 80% of childhood cancer is curable by the multidisciplinary team of pediatric oncology physicians and specialists. The only way to cure childhood cancer is the complete treatment of it.

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What is Childhood Cancer?

Like all other cancer, childhood cancer is also the growth of uncontrollable cells. Each cell in the body has a decorum that controls its growth, interacts with other some cells, live its life span and die. When certain cells lose that system control and grow in a way that your body can not regulate it, it’s known as cancer.

What are the Types of Childhood Cancer?

Types of Childhood Cancer are:

• Bone Cancers (Osteosarcoma)

• Brain Cancers (and Brain Stem Tumors)

• Leukemia

• Hepatoblastoma (Liver Cancer)

• Lymphoma (Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s)

• Neuroblastoma

• Rhabdomyosarcoma

• Retinoblastoma

• Rhabdoid Tumors

• Sarcoma

• Spinal Cord Tumors

• Wilms Tumor (Kidney Tumors)

How to Cure Childhood Cancer?

The first step in curing childhood cancer is the timely treatment. So, get a diagnosis and start treatment on time. Parents of a child, suffering from cancer can make better chances of cure by providing medical help early when the child is cancer suspected. The healthcare team will assist you by being aware of the symptoms of childhood cancer and provide urgent care when cancer is suspected.

The symptoms of childhood cancer can vary and can sometimes confuse you from those of other common childhood illnesses. If any of the following symptoms in a child occur repeatedly, then you should consult the doctor:

• An unusual lump

• Unexplained paleness

• Easy bleeding

• Ongoing pain in the particular area of the body including bones, joints, and backLimping

• Unexplained fever or illness which continues

• A frequent headache

• Vomiting

• Change or worsening in balance, walk, or speech

• Sudden weight loss

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Childhood Cancer Treatment:

The treatment of cancer in children can include surgery, which is used to remove cancerous cells or tumors, chemotherapy, which uses medical drugs to kill cancer cells, radiation, it uses the radiant energy to kill cancer cells, and bone marrow transplant.

Your Child’s doctors may use one or more of these treatments for cancer. The type of treatment depends upon the child’s age, the type of cancer, and its severity.

Surgery

For children with lymphoma or leukemia, surgery is not the common or main treatment. Leukemia and lymphoma involve in the circulatory and the lymphatic system, these are the two systems that are located throughout the body. It makes it hard to treat these cancers by operating in just one area.

Well, in children with solid tumors which can not spread to the various parts of the body, surgery can effectively remove this cancer when used in the combination with radiation and/or chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy or chemo is the medical therapy that can remove the cancer cells from the body. The child with cancer can take these chemotherapy medications orally or intravenously. Some forms of chemotherapy can be given into the spinal fluid. The drugs enter the bloodstream to kill cancer cells throughout the body.

Radiation

It is one of the most common treatments for cancer. The radiation therapy is treated with a stream of high-energy waves or particles that damage cancer cells. Many types of childhood cancer are treated with radiation along with surgery or chemotherapy.

Bone Marrow Transplants

There are certain types of cancer which receive bone marrow transplants. If the child has a type of cancer that affects the function of blood cells, then a bone marrow transplant may allow new, healthy cells to grow.

Conclusion:

Here, we have discussed childhood cancer along with its treatment and symptoms. There are different types of cancer treatments, your doctor will opt the treatment based on the types and severity of cancer. As we all know that cancer is a life-threatening disease, and when it comes to the children it becomes more serious. So, if you find any of the above-mentioned symptoms, consult a doctor as soon as possible because the timely treatment is the only best way to cure childhood cancer.

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