Prevention And Treatment Of Cancer Treatment - 2653 Words

Has enough research been done for childhood cancer treatment? Ruvimbo Mauchaza Centre No.: Candidate No.: Contents Cancer 3 Side Effects of Treatment 4 Clinical Trials 8 Consent 8 Cancer Cancer in children most commonly arises from changes in the child s DNA and is less likely to be due to environmental and lifestyle factors such as some adult cancers. It is a disease with starts from cells behaving abnormally by replicating uncontrollably, creating masses which can move to other places of the body and start growing there. Even though children can handle cancer treatment better than adults - they can receive higher doses and they have a higher survival rate, the treatment may do long term damage to their bodies. This leads†¦show more content†¦The most common types of cancer in children are; †¢ Leukaemia †¢ Brain Tumours †¢ Central Nervous System Tumours †¢ Neuroblastoma †¢ Wilms Tumour †¢ Lymphoma †¢ Bone cancer †¢ Rhabdomyosarcoma †¢ Retinoblastoma Treatment The main treatments used for childhood cancer involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and transplants. Side Effects of Treatment The side effects of cancer treatment are due to the damage of healthy cells during treatment. This inhibits them from growing and developing the way they should and sometimes the damage caused is noticed later on in the future. The risk of late side effects of childhood cancer treatment depends on the type of treatment and the dosage, the age of the patient at the time of treatment, the type of cancer and where it is located, the overall health of the child before treatment and the child s genetics - if they have inherited risk for certain health problems. However it has been estimated that 75% of cases of childhood cancers went on to develop late effects. This treatment also puts them at a higher risk for developing other cancers in later life. Treating childhood cancer with chemotherapy drugs has an increased risk of getting acute myelogenous leukaemia and treating them with radiation gives them an increased risk of