Monthly Archives: September 2015

Eight Aspects of Childhood Cancer’s Unique Challenges

By Hui Xie-Zukauskas

Kids in red_bedes.orgChildren are our treasure, and children’s health is our nation’s wealth. Don’t you agree? Today, I briefly summarize why childhood cancers create unique challenges for us, for kids and their families, despite great progresses in the development of innovative or healing therapies. Here are 8 aspects of the “why”:

  1. The common cancers that develop in children and adolescents differ from those that occur in adults. The most common types of childhood cancer are leukemia, brain tumors and lymphoma, whereas cancers of lung, colon, skin, breast and prostate strike most American adults.
  2. Cancers in children and adolescents vary among ages. So, each age group needs its own target treatment and care.
  3. Young kids are still in their developmental stages and vulnerable to cancer treatments. For instance, treatment like radiation can harm their organs and tissues.
  4. Each childhood cancer needs its own set of treatments – although some cancers that seem different can be treated similarly. One-size-fits-all is not an effective approach.
  5. Lifestyle-related risk factors (e.g. smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity) play seemingly little role in childhood cancers, unlike many cancers of adults. Very few environmental factors, such as radiation exposure, have been linked with childhood cancer risk, although it might be unavoidable due to cancer treatment need.
  6. Prevention is challenging too. Pediatric cancers are generally caused by some key genetic mutations or changes. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything about it.
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  8. Childhood cancers are rare, complex and aggressive in nature and in a small population; thereby posing challenges to research and development of new therapies.
  9. Survivors of childhood cancers face a life-long risk of developing another cancer. First, the treatments themselves have the potential to cause cancer. Second, young survivors also have to live with health problems (so-called late effect from cancer treatment) for the rest of their entire life. Sometimes the late effect can seriously affect body and mind.

While we’re embracing the heartbreak of childhood cancers, we should also care about the quality of life for young cancer patients and their families. One important thing in fighting childhood cancers is to cultivate in your children a healthy lifestyle at an early age, so that you can lower your children’s risk of getting cancer later in life.

So, knowing the unique challenges of childhood cancers, what will you do to be a part of a fighting force? Remember: a little effort adds up! It can be as little as spreading the word!

 

Image credit: bedes.org