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Yaritza Delgado
Mr. Peake
Honors English III
14 September 2012
Is there Hope for Children with Cancer?
About fourteen of every one hundred thousand children get diagnosed with cancer each
year in the United States. Cancer is a very serious disease in children and young adults and has
been the leading cause of death in the U.S. in children ranging from 1-14 years old. Over the past
years there has been an increase in the number of children diagnosed with cancer. At the same
time the chances of children dying has decreased and the five year survival chance has increased.
However, cancer patients may end up having some short term or long term side effects to the
treatment. Some side effects may be very serious, while others can be not so serious and wear off
quickly. When treating children with cancer, curing the children is the top priority over all
aspects of care. Every day more children are being cured with the advances in cancer treatments.
Thanks to medical advances in cancer treatments, children with cancer have an eighty percent
chance of getting cured.
Cancer forms when cells start to grow out of control. Randy Parker, an anatomy teacher,
said, “Cancer is uncontrolled cell division. It is mitosis gone wild. Cells should stop growing
when they bump into other cells, this is called density inhibition. In cancer cells they continue to
grow and grow over top of each other forming a tumor” (Parker). The damaged DNA that cannot
be repaired causes cancer cells to develop. Growing cancer cells demand an increasing amount
of the body’s nutrients every day. Cancer takes over a child’s body slowly. According to one
study, “It [cancer] takes a child’s strength, destroys organs and bones, and weakens the body’s
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defenses against other illnesses” (Miller). Cancer symptoms are similar to those of many
common diseases. This can cause doctors to overlook the symptoms and suspect other diseases
before thinking of cancer. Metastasis is when cancer spreads to other parts of the body, when this
happens the cancer it’s still called the same. For example if breast cancer travels to another part
of the body, it is still called breast cancer. Some cancer form tumors that may be benign (cannot
spread) or malignant (spreads throughout the body), however, some cancers like leukemia do not
form tumors. According to the American Cancer Society, “the types of cancers that develop in
children are different from the types that develop in adults” (“Childhood”). The survival rate for
children with cancer is higher than that of adults with cancer. All cancers result in the out-ofcontrol division of cells, no matter what the type of cancer is. According to one research, “All
kinds of cancer have common processes: cells grow out of control, develop abnormal sizes and
shapes, and ignore their typical boundaries inside the body, destroy neighbor cells, and can
spread to other organs and tissues” (Miller). Cancers behave differently depending on what type
of cancer it is; different cancers grow at different paces and respond to different treatments. That
is why children with cancer need treatment that is aimed at their specific cancer.
A few of the most common types of cancer in children are: leukemia, lymphoma, and
brain cancer. Coping with cancer is hard. For all ages, the goal is to prevent fear and
misunderstanding. When a younger child has been diagnosed with cancer they could be told they
are sick and need medicine. “Tests used to detect, diagnose and state cancer depend on the type
of cancer”, according to one study (“General”). Staging is done to determine if the cancer has
spread throughout the body. Psychologists and social workers can help children deal and cope
with their feelings. Children with cancer are treated at specialized cancer centers. Hospitals
specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of children and young adults with cancer are called
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Cancer Centers. Cancer centers have specialized staff and doctors to treat the children. Cancer
centers offer “the advantages of having a team of specialists that know the difference between
adult and childhood cancer and the unique need of children with cancer” (“Childhood”). The
teams for treating cancer include specialists such as oncologists, pathologists, radiation
oncologists, surgeons, nurse practitioners, pediatric oncology nurses, psychologists, child life
specialists, and social workers. In cancer centers clinical trials are done voluntarily. Clinical
trials are studies and research about cancer and cancer treatments that are done to see how certain
groups of people respond to a treatment. According to research, “An advantage of a clinical trial
is that a new treatment could turn out to be better than a more established one” (“Care”). The
facts and information about a specific cancer and its effects should be explained in appropriate
language depending on the child’s age. Older kids should be aware and involved with their own
treatment. The type of treatments used depends on the type and severity of the cancer and the
child’s age.
Cancer treatment is improving more and more every day and is all due to the treatments
that are provided. According to a study, “Information about treatment is gained from the
diagnosis, treatment, and follow-ups of other children who were given the same treatment”
(“General”). To establish the treatment it is required to know the stage of cancer. Randy Parker
states that “there are a lot of different kinds of treatments. Some are very strong and have many
side effects and some are not as strong and are more easily tolerated.” Some treatments are
chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Surgery does not play a big role in treating children with
Leukemia or Lymphoma. Since Leukemia and Lymphoma involve systems that are located
throughout all the body it makes it difficult to use surgery to treat by operating specific area. In
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children with tumors that have not spread throughout the body, surgery can be useful and can
remove cancer, along with chemotherapy and radiation.
Chemotherapy is a medication used to treat cancer. Chemotherapy or “chemo” eliminates
cancer cells in the body. Chemo medications work by attacking cells that are dividing quickly,
hence why they work on cancer cells. Children can receive chemo through a vein
(intravenously), orally or intrathecally (into spinal fluid). The extent of chemo treatment and the
type of drugs given rest on the type of cancer the child has and the child’s response to the
treatment. According to a study, “Children’s bodies tend to tolerate chemo better than adults
bodies do, and childhood cancer responds better to chemotherapy” (“Childhood”). Chemo is
administered in cycles, with each period of treatment followed by a rest, thus giving the body
time to recover. Chemo meds do carry short-term and long-term effects. Your doctor will use
safety measures and other meds to stop a lot of the side effects. Chemotherapy is the main
treatment for Leukemia the most common cancer in children.
There are so many types of childhood cancer and most are of the white blood cells.
According to research, “Leukemia is the most common cancer in children and adolescents,
accounting for one out of three cancers in children” (“Childhood”). Leukemia often starts in
white blood cells, but may start in other blood cells. Leukemia begins in the bone marrow; it’s
where blood cells are produced. There are two types of Leukemia: acute, meaning it grows fast,
and chronic, meaning it grows slowly. Most of child cancers are acute. There are two types of
acute Leukemia: Acute lymphocyte leukemia (ALL) and Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).
About three out of four cases of childhood leukemia is ALL. The rest of the cases are AML.
When the cell has features of both ALL and AML, the cell is called hybrid leukemia and it’s
treated like ALL. Chronic leukemia is harder to cure than acute leukemia, even though it grows
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slower. Chronic leukemia is very rare in children. According to studies, “A stem cell transplant
(STC) can sometimes be used for children whose chances of being cured are poor with standard
or extensive chemo” (“Childhood”). STC allows doctors to give patients higher doses of chemo.
Bone marrow is destroyed by high doses of chemo.
Another treatment is bone marrow transplant. Bone marrow transplant can be used with
certain types of cancer. Bone marrow produces blood cells. If a child has a cancer that affects
blood cells, bone marrow transplants could be used with chemo to destroy the failing cells. This
may permit healthy, new cells to be produced. According to research, “Bone marrow transplant
is sometimes used to treat cancers that do not involve blood cells because it lets doctors use
higher doses of chemo than would otherwise be tolerated” (Miller).
Radiation is one of the main types of treatments for cancer along with chemo or surgery.
According to research, “A child who receives radiation is treated with a stream of high-energy
particles or waves destroy cancer cells” (Miller). Radiation destroys cancerous cells by damaging
their DNA. Since radiation can damage both normal and cancerous cells, treatment must be
carefully calculated to prevent major side effects. Radiation may come from a machine outside
the body, from radioactive material put in the body near the location of the cancer, or it can be
injected into blood. Radiation may be given before, during or after surgery, depending on the
type of cancer the child has. Studies show that “many types of childhood cancers are treated with
radiation along with chemotherapy or surgery” (Miller). Children undergoing treatment, children
may be given meds or therapies to help make them more comfortable. All treatment is different
so children may receive treatment daily, weekly or monthly.
There are some people that refuse to think that children with cancer have much hope of
surviving. The side effects of the treatments may cause people to think this way. Roman
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Korenjak states that “Childhood cancer survivors can develop physical, emotional and
psychosocial adversities, a secondary malignancy (SM) being one of the most serious among
them” (Korenjak). Survivors that received chemo or radiation treatment for previous cancer have
a higher risk of getting cancer again. A few short term side effects are: nausea, vomiting, anemia,
high risk of infection, hair loss, and fatigue. Some drugs may give children heart and skin
problems. Some long term effects are infertility, organ damage, growth problems or high risk of
other cancer. Some people do not think that it’s worth putting their child through all that pain.
Some people believe is worth going through the pain as long as there is a realistic chance of
survival, but are not sure it would be worth it if the patient would get only an extra month or two
of life. This graph shows the different trends of childhood per year in the U.S.
Thanks to medical advances in cancer treatments, children with cancer have an eighty
percent chance of getting cured. Huang Tseng-Tien says that “There are some investigators who
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report that childhood cancer survivors have the same quality of life as their peers: they find as
many married, have the same number of children and undergo no more divorces when compared
to the general population” (Tseng-Tien). Around one in eighty people under the age of twenty is
a survivor of childhood cancer and one in six hundred and forty people between the ages of
twenty and thirty nine has survived childhood cancer. Medical advances that have been
developed and have helped increase the number of survivors. As the year pass the rate in
childhood cancer survivors increases. Soon enough there would be a cure for childhood cancer.
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Works Cited
“Care for Children and Adolescents with Cancer.” National Cancer Institue at the National
Institues of Health, 19 May 2008. Web. 14 Feb 2012.
“Childhood Cancer.” Kids Health. Robin E. Miller, MD, Sept 2010. Web. 2 Feb 2012
“Childhood Leukemia.” American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society, 10 Jan 2010. Web.
22 Feb 2012
“General Information About Unusual Cancer of Childhood.” National Cancer Institute. National
Cancer Institute, 14 Oct 2011. Web. 22 Feb 2012.
Korenjak, Roman, Mojca Cizek Sajko, and Berta Jereb. “Psychological Status of Childhood
Cancer Survivors Who Develop One or More Secondary Malignancies.” Acta Medica
Academica. Academic Research Complete, 2011. Web. 29 Feb 2012.
Parker, Randy. Personal Interview. 20 March 2012.
Tseng-Tien, Huang, and Kristen K Ness. “Exercise Inventions in Children with Cancer: A
Review.” International Journal of Pediatrics. Academic Search Complete, 2011. Web. 29
Feb 2012.