For the youngest: How Russia is fighting childhood cancer
February 15 is the World Child Cancer Day. According to the WHO, 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year and 100,000 die from it. Doctors told Izvestia what the situation is in Russia, what types of cancer children get and what is important for parents to know in order not to miss the symptoms.
Situation with pediatric cancer in Russia
In Russia, malignant neoplasms are detected annually in 4 thousand children. Almost half - leukemia and lymphoma, that is, diseases of hematopoietic tissue, tells "Izvestia" deputy director of the Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology of the N.N. Blokhin Oncology Center. Kirill Kirgizov, deputy director of the Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at the N.N. Blokhin Oncology Center of the Russian Ministry of Health and a board member of the European Association of Bone Marrow Transplantologists EBMT.
The very structure of cancer incidence in children differs significantly from adults, adds Elena Skorobogatova, Head of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Department of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Health, Head of the Center for Oncology, Hematology and Transplantology of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital. Elena Skorobogatova.
Leukemia is most common in them: it accounts for about a third of all cases. In children up to 14 years old, tumors of the central nervous system, lymphomas, soft tissue sarcomas, neuroblastoma and Wilms tumor are common. And in adolescence, lymphomas, brain tumors, leukemia, germ cell neoplasms, thyroid tumors, and melanoma are diagnosed.
- In recent years, there have been more cases, but this is due to better detection of diseases. Today in our country, tumors are detected even in unborn children, either in utero or immediately after birth. Such babies are sent to our center, to the neonatal oncology department," Kirgizov said.
In general, the experts conclude, today cancer in children is much less common than in adults and accounts for 1% of all cancer patients. And its prognosis is quite good: the survival rate for some types reaches 80-90%. But it is important that symptoms are detected early and treatment is started in time.
Prognosis in pediatric cancer
According to Kirill Kirgizov, in general, 83-84% of children with cancer recover in the country. But the results vary depending on the type of tumor and the stage at which it was detected: the percentage may be higher or lower. For example, in lymphoma, up to 98% of children go into remission.
In thyroid cancer, the survival rate reaches almost 100%, clarifies Elena Skorobogatova. Elena Skorobogatova. According to her, leukemia is curable in more than 80% of cases, and in favorable variants of lymphoblastic leukemia this figure reaches 90%. For comparison, in 1990 it was less than 15%.
- According to the WHO, Russia is among the top ten countries with the highest overall survival rate for patients under 18 suffering from cancer. This success has been achieved thanks to a set of measures included in the national program "Health Care" and the federal project "Fighting Cancer", as well as medical innovations, - Kirill Kirgizov emphasizes.
As the doctor notes, modern medicine has made tremendous progress in the fight against diseases. The development of oncodiagnostics allows sequencing the genome of a patient's tumor and thus obtaining a large amount of genetic information, which, in turn, opens up opportunities for children's oncologists to provide personalized treatment.
- We are successfully realizing these opportunities, since today absolutely all the world's known methods of treating children's cancer are available in the country, plus unique methods developed in Russia. For example, in the Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at the N.N. Blokhin Oncology Center. N.N. Blokhin Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at the N.N. Blokhin Medical Center for Oncology has created a protocol for the treatment of lymphoma, thanks to which we cure 98% of patients with this diagnosis. Of course, my colleagues and I are transferring all innovations to the regions so that they are available to all sick children," says Kirill Kirgizov.
Medical achievements
Russian doctors made an important step in the fight against childhood cancer last year. Then they started using a new type of cell therapy, NK-cells, "natural killer cells", which help the body to fight the tumor on its own.
- Over the past year we have significantly expanded the indications for the use of immunotherapy in children with solid (solid) tumors. In our institute, the Research Institute of DOiH, the largest transplant center in Russia for children with cancer, 205 bone marrow transplants were performed. This is a quarter of all transplants in children with MND in Russia. This volume gives us the opportunity to accumulate experience in even the most complicated procedures," says Kirill Kirgizov.
This year, he adds, the Institute's team performed the first "preventive" bone marrow transplantation for a child with neuroblastoma. Thanks to the fact that experts sequenced the genome of this baby, it became clear that the discovered mutations in the future will lead to the development of leukemia. In the future, this technology will make it possible to drastically reduce the number of second tumors in children.
- For the first time in Russia, we performed robotassisted surgery on a child with a lung tumor, thus preserving the organ and reducing the patient's recovery period. In general, pediatric oncosurgery is moving towards organ-preserving surgeries; today our surgeon colleagues think not only about saving a child's life, but also about its quality. This is important because the task of pediatric oncologists is not just to achieve remission of the disease, but also to cure the child, to give him or her the opportunity to live a long life, to be realized in the profession, to give birth and raise their children, - concludes the interlocutor of "Izvestia".
Symptoms of childhood cancer
Early diagnosis plays an important role in the treatment of childhood cancer. Parents need to pay attention to their child's condition and see a doctor in time.
- Manifestations of cancer can vary depending on the type of tumor, but there are common warning signs that can not be ignored. Among them are prolonged weakness, fever, pallor, bruising, bleeding, sharp weight loss. You should also be alert if your child has enlarged lymph nodes, tumors or lumps, bone and joint pain, headaches combined with vomiting, double vision, vision impairment, dizziness, coordination problems, seizures and behavioral changes, " explains Elena Skorobogatova.
In addition, she adds, you should immediately contact a doctor if the child has frequent abdominal pain, constipation, blood in the urine and feces. And should pay attention to the symptom of "cat's eye" (white pupil in the photo with a flash), which may indicate retinoblastoma.
- Unfortunately, pediatric cancers often masquerade as other ailments. Therefore, parents should be very careful about their child's health and contact their pediatrician at any indisposition. We, pediatric oncologists, are actively working with primary care physicians to work together to provide the child with all the necessary medical care as soon as possible - says Kirill Kirgizov.
In any case, doctors conclude, it is important not to panic and not to postpone diagnosis. After all, early detection of a tumor greatly increases the chances of successful treatment for any patient - both child and adult.
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