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 Childhood cancer is rare and advances now help most young patients survive. Yet, it is still the leading cause of death by disease for children between ages 1 and 14 in the United States. An estimated 9,100 new cases are expected to occur this year along with 1,400 tragic, premature deaths.
Each September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month focuses attention on the need for further research and better treatments to save young lives. Advances generally come from clinical trials – the careful, scientific testing of new drugs and strategies by cancer patients who agree to participate. These trials are the bridge between the development of a new drug in the laboratory and the use of the drug by patients who need it.
A majority of children with cancer have joined these trials over the last 20 years, which has speeded the development of new treatments and dramatically increased the number of children who survive.
In the mid-1970s, only a little more than half of all children with cancer survived for five years or more, but by the early 1990s that figure rose dramatically to 77.1 percent, according an analysis by the National Cancer Institute. Better treatments came along quickly during that period because so many parents enrolled their children in clinical trials.
And many of the strategies now used to treat adults with cancer were first tested and developed in children.
Recently a pediatric cancer expert reported that children in clinical trials do better than others — even if they are not among the group getting the experimental treatment. The health care teams running the trials are often the top experts in their fields, so patients may get better standard care than they would from a local doctor who rarely sees childhood cancers.
A childhood cancer specialist on the ACS editorial board agreed that joining a clinical trial insures the best possible care for a child with cancer.
"All children with cancer should be entered in a clinical trial if they are eligible, because it provides the best treatment, and the best oversight, as well as the best hope for further progress," said Teresa J. Vietti of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
Childhood Cancer is Many Different Diseases
Common sites of cancer in children are the blood and bone marrow, bone, lymph nodes, brain, sympathetic nervous system, kidneys, and soft tissues. The most common types of cancer are leukemia, which accounts for about 30% of cancer cases in children 14 and younger, and brain and intraspinal cancers, which account for 21% of cases.
Cancers in children can be difficult to recognize, so the American Cancer Society (ACS) advises parents to see that their children have regular medical checkups. Parents also should be alert to any unusual symptoms that persist.
These symptoms can include:
- An unusual mass or swelling;
- Unexplained paleness and loss of energy;
- A sudden tendency to bruise;
- A persistent, localized pain or limping;
- Prolonged, unexplained fever or illness;
- Frequent headaches, often with vomiting;
- Sudden eye or vision changes; and
- Excessive, rapid weight loss.
Years Later, Survivors Happy With Quality of Life
After their disease is cured, most survivors of childhood cancer appear to be happy with their quality of life, according to a survey published this year. California researchers interviewed 176 survivors whose average age was 21. A significant number were thriving, having grown in positive ways from their cancer experience, while a smaller number had ongoing psychological or social problems.
Ironically, the difficulties of having cancer may have helped the "thrivers" enjoy a high quality of life later on. The happiest survivors said cancer made them rethink what's important in life and what they hoped to accomplish.
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