There are answers to the question of why adults get cancer. For example, malnutrition for a long time, bad habits, negative environmental impacts and heredity. To the question why children get cancer, scientists and doctors are still looking for an answer. These two causes most often affect the development of the disease in babies. This is ecology and heredity. What else causes cancer in a child? About what types of diseases are in children, about the causes, symptoms of diseases, diagnosis and modern methods of treatment - more on this later in the article. So, in order.
Causes of cancer in children. What?
Environmental influences and heredity. It is these two causes, which most often affect the development of cancer in children, that scientists single out. What does this mean?
The he alth of the unborn child will depend on how good the he alth of the parents is. The statistics are relentless. Children born 25-30 years ago were stronger than the current generation. This is affected, first of all, by the lifestyle of the parents.
The he alth of the unborn child largely depends onparents
Doctors advise parents when planning pregnancy to give up bad habits and strengthen the body. In addition to addictions to nicotine and alcohol, there are factors that have a direct impact on children:
- Poor nutrition of the mother during pregnancy;
- work in hazardous production while carrying a child;
- environmental impact;
- taking medications;
- radioactive radiation;
- previous abortions;
- premature birth;
- no breastfeeding.
The reasons for the development of oncology in children can also include the presence of infections and viruses in the blood of the expectant mother. The age of the woman also matters. The younger the expectant mother, the stronger the baby. Conversely, the older the woman who gave birth, the higher the chances of developing cancer in the child. The same can be said about men. Addiction to alcohol, nicotine, and in some cases to narcotic substances will affect the future generation. And the age of the future father, like the mother, matters.
Ecology and genetic mutations
You can't discount the environment in which the baby lives. Poor environmental or living conditions can cause a child to develop cancer. In turn, an unfavorable environment can contribute to a genetic mutation. She will cause cancer. At present, the state of water, air, soil leaves much to be desired. The air in megacities is polluted by industrialproduction, exhaust gases. The soil is prone to heavy metal contamination. In some regions, people live in houses built with radioactive materials.
And that's not all. There are other reasons that contribute to the development of oncology in children, which can also be attributed to external factors of influence:
- long-term medication;
- sunburn;
- viral infections;
- passive smoking;
- stressful situations.
Modern practices abroad
Important point. Modern genetics allows you to determine the presence of mutations, hereditary pathologies that can lead to the development of cancer in a child. What does it mean? In many Western countries, a method of genetic testing of couples who want to start a family is widely used. But even this method does not give one hundred percent certainty whether the disease will manifest itself or not.
Symptoms of oncology in children: what parents and doctors should pay attention to
What to do? What are the symptoms of cancer in children, and how do they manifest themselves? Doctors talk about cancer awareness. This means that pediatricians and parents need to be aware of simple symptoms that may be a harbinger of a serious illness. They need to be careful.
It often happens that the first signs of cancer in children are disguised as ordinary diseases. There are many such cases. If the disease does not respond to traditional methods of treatment and proceeds atypically, this is already a reason to turn toprofile specialists. Those, in turn, will send to do cancer tests. The dislike of parents to visit clinics and stand in line for an appointment with a doctor often leads to big problems. Sometimes moms don't pay enough attention to worrisome symptoms, mistaking them for fatigue, overwork, simple indigestion, or a cold that doesn't go away for a long time.
Childhood cancer is curable. But subject to timely seeking medical help. The chances of a successful cure increase when a child is diagnosed with cancer in the first stage. When an oncological disease is detected at the third or fourth stage, the possibility of recovery is very small. Be carefull. Knowing the symptoms of cancer development will allow diagnosing the disease at an early stage and using gentle treatment methods, giving hope for a full recovery.
Early development of cancer and symptoms
So, more details. Headaches and vomiting - in 80% of cases this is a tumor of the central nervous system.
Change in gait, incoordination, back deformity? The cause may be a tumor in the brain or spinal cord.
What can a sharp decrease in vision mean? About a critical symptom developing due to a brain tumor.
Fatigue, lethargy, lethargy, loss of appetite and weight loss, high fever, vomiting, swollen lymph nodes… These are possible symptoms of blood cancer in children.
Swelling of the face, weakness, fever, sweating, pallor are signskidney cancer, neuroblastoma. Pain in the eye, the appearance of strabismus are symptoms of retinoblastoma.
Diagnosis: What cancer tests can be used to diagnose the disease in children?
Diagnosing diseases in a child is more difficult than in an adult. Symptoms are most often disguised as other, less dangerous ailments. Sometimes the disease proceeds completely without any signs, but is detected by chance, during a general examination. Also, the diagnosis is complicated by the fact that the child is not always able to correctly formulate the complaint - what, where and how much it hurts. Most often, malignant tumors in children are detected at the stage at which anatomical and physiological visible disorders occur.
For the diagnosis of oncological diseases in children, all research methods that are available in modern medicine are used. For example:
- general and special blood tests;
- urinalysis;
- x-ray;
- Ultrasound;
- magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography;
- puncture;
- radioisotope scan.
Molecular biological testing of DNA and RNA is used to track cancer-causing genetic mutations.
Children's Oncology: Childhood Cancer Classification
Classification of oncological diseases in children distinguishes between three types of cancerous tumors:
1. Embryonic.
2. Juvenile.
3. Tumors of the adult type.
Embryonictumors are the result of pathology in germ cells. At the same time, the tissues of the formations are histologically similar to the tissues of the fetus or embryo. These include blastoma tumors: retinoblastoma, neuroblastoma, hepablastoma, nephroblastoma
Juvenile tumors. They affect children and teenagers. Tumors arise as a result of the transformation of a he althy or partially altered cell into a cancerous one. The process by which he althy cells acquire the properties of malignant cells is called malignancy. Both completely he althy cells and partially altered cells that do not show malignancy, such as polyps, stomach ulcers, can be affected by this. Juvenile tumors include carcinomas, sarcomas, lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease.
Tumors of the adult type are a type of formation that is very rare in children. These include some types of carcinoma, neurinoma, skin cancer in children. But they are treated with great difficulty.
Oncology in children - types of diseases, statistics
The type that is most common among children is leukemia. This name combines brain and blood cancer. According to statistics, the share of blood cancer in pediatric oncology is 30%. As you can see, this is a large percentage. Common symptoms of blood cancer in children are fatigue, weakness, fever, weight loss, joint pain.
Brain tumor is the second most common disease. 27% are accounted for by this disease. Brain cancer in children often appears before the age of 3 years. There is a violation of the development of the embryo in the prenatal period. Reasons can be:
- woman's illness during pregnancy;
- bad habits such as smoking and drinking;
- complications during pregnancy or childbirth.
Neuroblastoma is a cancer that affects only children. The disease develops in the nerve cells of the fetus. It occurs in newborns and infants, less often in older children. It accounts for 7% of all cancer cases.
A disease that affects one, less often both kidneys - Wilms tumor. This disease affects children under the age of 3 years. Often such a tumor is diagnosed at the stage when it manifests itself as a swelling of the abdomen. Wilms tumor accounts for 5% of all such diseases.
Lymphoma is a cancer that affects the lymphatic system. This cancer "attacks" the lymph nodes, the bone marrow. Symptoms of the disease are manifested in swelling of the lymph nodes, fever, weakness, sweating, weight loss. This disease accounts for 4% of all cancers.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancer of muscle tissue. Among soft tissue sarcomas, this type is the most common. It accounts for 3% of the total number of cancers in children.
Retinoblastoma - eye cancer. Occurs in children under the age of 2 years. The disease can be detected by parents or an ophthalmologist due to one distinctive feature of the manifestation of the disease. A he althy pupil, when illuminated, is reflected in red. With this disease, the pupil is cloudy, white or pink. Parents can see the "defect" in the photo. This disease accounts for3%.
Bone cancer is a malignant tumor of the bones, osteosarcoma or Ewing's sarcoma. This disease affects people aged 15 to 19.
Osteosarcoma affects the joints where bone tissue grows fastest. Symptoms are manifested in joint pain, aggravated at night or during moments of active movement, swelling of the affected area.
Ewing's sarcoma, unlike osteosarcoma, is less common, affects the bones of the pelvis, chest, lower extremities. Osteosarcoma accounts for 3% and Ewing's sarcoma 1% of all childhood diseases.
Children's lung cancer is a type of oncology that is quite rare. The cause of this disease is often parents - heavy smokers. Passive smoking is one of the causes of the disease. Also, lung cancer can provoke maternal smoking during pregnancy and lactation. Symptoms of the disease are very similar to signs of bronchitis, asthma, allergies, pneumonia. Because of this, cancer is found in advanced form. Parents and the doctor should be alerted by the manifestation of symptoms such as:
- loss of appetite;
- quick fatigue;
- frequent cough or severe cough with phlegm;
- severe headaches;
- swelling in the neck, face;
- shortness of breath.
Families with a history of cancer need to be on the lookout for early signs of the disease. Early diagnosis of any disease is the key to successful treatment.
Methods of treatmentcancers in children
Treatment of cancer in adolescents and toddlers takes place in special clinics and children's cancer centers. The choice of method is influenced mainly by the type of disease and the stage of the disease. Treatment may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy. In some cases, surgery is used. The most commonly used combination treatment.
A feature of childhood cancer is its rapid development along with a growing organism. At the same time, this is also its weak point. Most chemotherapy drugs in therapy affect fast-growing cancer cells. Unlike an adult, a child's body recovers faster and better after chemotherapy. This makes it possible to use intensive methods of treatment, but the likelihood of side effects is high. Therefore, the oncologist must compare the needs of a sick child and the maximum dose of exposure, at the same time - the most gentle, which will minimize the impact of negative consequences.
The second most used is radiation therapy. Radiotherapy is used in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. With the help of directed radiation, doctors achieve a reduction in the size of the tumor. This makes it easier to remove later. Sometimes only radiation therapy is used, without subsequent surgery.
New techniques are widely used. Low-traumatic surgical interventions, for example, selective blockage of blood vessels (embolization) that feed the tumor. This leads to their significantdecrease. Other methods are also used:
- cryotherapy;
- hyperthermia;
- laser therapy.
In some cases, stem cell treatment is used. As well as hemocomponent therapy.
Children's Center and Institute. P. A. Herzen
Institute of Oncology. P. A. Herzen is one of the oldest centers in Russia for the diagnosis and treatment of cancerous tumors. Founded in 1903. Currently, this Institute of Oncology is one of the largest state institutions of this profile. He is also widely known at home and abroad.
Children's Cancer Center, organized on the basis of the Institute, successfully treats cancer. The facility, equipped with the latest technology, uses advanced technologies to combat this difficult disease.
In the Institute of Oncology. Herzen has developed a method of combined treatment of oncological diseases, a method for individual prediction of the response of cancerous tumors to therapy, and work is underway to create the latest special preparations. Organ-preserving, functionally sparing operations are widely used. This can significantly increase the life expectancy of cancer patients.
In the center you can undergo a comprehensive diagnostic examination, get expert advice. If necessary, highly qualified treatment of malignant tumors will be carried out here using modern techniques and the latest equipment.
Smallconclusion
Now you know for what reasons a disease such as cancer can occur in children. As you can see, there are a lot of them. We also looked at the symptoms of such ailments. In addition, the article describes the methods of their treatment. The main thing to cure a child is to make an early diagnosis and choose the right treatment.
