CHILDHOOD CANCERS Childhood cancers are those that affect individuals under the age of 15 years. The most common types include cancers such as leukemias (blood cancers), brain tumours , lymphomas, and solid tumours like neuroblastoma and Wilmstumour. Globally, approximately 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. In India, more than 50,000 new childhood cancer cases occur every year. Survival rates for childhood cancers have improved over the past few decades, reaching around 80-90%.Survival rates are low in developing countries like India.
Childhood cancer not only has adverse physical and emotional effects on the affected children but also has profound impact on their families and society at large. In many cases, the exact cause of childhood cancer remains unknown. Childhood cancers are typically not preventable through lifestyle changes, as is the case with some adult cancers. Ongoing research is essential to further understand the risk factors associated with pediatric cancers.
My father passed away due to lung cancer on Feb 1 2003, at Fr Mullers Hospital, Mangalore. It was my promise to him that I would help cancer patients at their terminal stages. This promise was realized in 2007 when we setup Ave Maria Palliative care under the CDSE organization. I am grateful to Professor Clement Dsouza(late) who was instrumental in bringing together Dr Lavina Noronha, Dr Rita Noronha and myself and getting this facility off the ground which has helped thousands of terminally ill patients as well as relieved the family members from stress and pain.
My daughter Neola was born in 2005 in the US as a 24-week premature baby weighing just 643 grams and was miraculously saved as a normal baby. The Lord was merciful enough on us to have Neola without any long term ailment, thanks to the skill and passion of medical professionals of NICU at Inova Fairfax hospital in Virginia. If that was not the case, my wife Nancy and I would have had to spend our entire lifetime caring for our child. How would we pay back to the Lord? We were looking for a cause that could have a profound impact on small children who are suffering due to variety of reasons in impoverished sections of the society.
Pediatric Hematology and oncology unit at KMC hospital Attavara, Mangalore has been treating children with cancer for the past 25 years. Our aim is to treat all children with cancer who come here for treatment irrespective of their social or financial background.
Childhood Cancer Programme, CEDSE, Vamanjoor, has been working with us for the past 11years – counselling families to adhere to the treatment, make sure that they come for follow up and helping families for their out of the pocket expenses. Due to the effort of CEDSE, our treatment abandonment rate is less than 2% whereas the national average is much higher than this. Because of CEDSE s efforts our long term survival rate has improved (now overall cancers around 65% whereas. Blood cancer is around 75 %).
We sincerely thank the selfless work done by CEDSE team and look forward to continue the association with them.
Childhood cancer affects a significant proportion of children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years old. Childhood cancer is curable, and society needs to be aware of this fact. However due to multiple reasons predominantly financial, less than 30 percent of childhood cancers are cured in middle income countries.
A crisis of catastrophic proportion emerging in India currently is the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, labelled briefly as NCDs. These do not cause havoc in the lives of people all at once but kill them one by one. Gradually sapping the vital energy of persons, such diseases cause much pain, misery, disability and premature deaths, leaving in their wake unbearable suffering and penury for all the near and dear ones – children and mothers in particular.
Childhood is the age where children have a lot of fun, wishes and desires. But for children with cancer, it is battle against the odds. These children are an inspiration in their ability to put aside their pain and sorrow and make the best of whatever life has to offer.
According to global cancer statistics, childhood cancers (cancers in children <18 yrs age) constitute 0.5-4.6% of all cancers and 1% of all cancer deaths. Leukemias, lymphomas (tumours of blood and lymphatics) and tumours of Central Nervous System are the major types of cancer in children. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates 3 lakh annual cases and close to 80,000 childhood deaths due to cancers.
As an undergraduate student, I first visited Wenlock District hospital in 1978 and continued my postgraduate studies in paediatrics in Kasturba Medical College. Later, I joined as a lecturer and continued to work there as a paediatric specialist and Head of the department and subsequently retired in 2018.
Why my child has cancer? What have I done to deserve this pain of seeing my beloved child go through the excruciating pain of being cancer affected, denying her/him of all the joys of childhood? These are questions that are posed by parents of the affected children we work with. In some cases, parents repeatedly ask such questions when their much-loved child takes her/his last painful gasps of breath and loses her/his battle for survival (heart-rending experience for them). Unfortunately, there are no answers to such questions as of now.
CEDSE- Care Child Cancer 