Paediatric cancers have a very good chance of cure and an early referral can make a significant difference for the child, said Dr Neelesh Reddy, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Manipal Hospital, Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru.
“We have always focused on the early detection and treatment of cancers as treatment is much simpler and is more cost-effective than the treatment of cancer in an advanced stage. So, an early referral to a specialist oncologist will make differences in various aspects like duration of treatment, intensity of treatment, side effects of treatment, cost of treatment and others,” Dr Reddy said.
International Childhood Cancer Day was observed on February 15 and experts talked about the need to increase awareness about childhood cancer. In an interview with The Indian Express, Dr Reddy said that the treatment for cancer is very specific and gets intensified as the stage increases. “Thus, the early referral definitely makes it a win-win situation for everyone,” he said.
“What makes an early referral difficult is that childhood cancers are quite rare and as such there are no known risk factors like lifestyle habits. The potential for cure in paediatric cancers is quite high be it paediatric solid cancer or haematological cancer. Most of the cancers do get cured with conventional chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy used in various combinations based on the site of cancer and the extent of disease. However, there is also scope for advanced treatment options like targeted therapy, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplant and CART cell therapy in refractory or relapsed cases,” the expert said.
“For the benefit of community doctors and paediatricians and the general public, we need to do activities to increase awareness. In this direction, we do periodic Continued Medical Education activities and take up other programmes,” Dr Reddy said. Recently, Dr Reddy and his team successfully helped a three-year-old child come out of the severe stage of lymphoblastic lymphoma. The child’s weight dropped from 19 kg to 15 kg, which made his parents apprehensive, especially as he was born 15 years after their marriage.
The child was suffering from the fourth stage of Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. After the chemotherapy began, the child’s health started to improve gradually. His food intake started increasing and the infections continued to settle down. As the tumour started to decrease in size, the swelling on his face also started to reduce and is undergoing the third phase of the treatment and doing well.
“Among all cancers, childhood cancers are the ones that have a very high potential for cure if diagnosed at the right time. In paediatric cancer, cure means not just getting all right but living a normal life. So, it is time to close the gaps in care and see that every child who has cancer gets cured,” said Dr Reddy.
