Childhood Cancer

Overview

What Is Cancer?

Every cell in the body has a system that controls how it grows, how it interacts with other cells, and how long it lives. Sometimes, cells lose that control and grow in a way that the body can no longer manage. This is called cancer, or malignancy (muh-LIG-nun-see).

It’s not common for kids or teens to get cancer, but when they do, it’s called childhood, or pediatric, cancer.

Top Things to Know

• Cancer happens when abnormal cells grow out of control in the body.
• Common symptoms include extreme tiredness, lumps or swelling, headaches, and frequent infections.
• Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or stem cell transplants, depending on the kind of cancer.
• Cancer is easier to treat when it's found early.

How Cancer Develops

There are different kinds of cancer, but they develop in the same way. The cancer cells may:

• grow out of control
• become unusual sizes and shapes
• move past their usual boundaries inside the body
• destroy nearby cells

Some cancer cells gather to form tumors (lumps that can interfere with the body's normal processes). If cells from a tumor break away and travel to a different tissue or organ, it’s called metastasis (muh-TASS-tuh-siss).

As cancer cells grow, they can weaken a person, harm organs and bones, and make it hard for the body to fight other illnesses.

What Are the Most Common Childhood Cancers?

When cancer happens in kids, it's most often one of these types:

• leukemia (The most common cancer in children is acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)).
• lymphoma
• brain cancer
• in teens, osteosarcoma (bone cancer)

How Childhood Cancer Differs From Adult Cancer

Childhood cancers and how they're treated have important differences from cancers that adults get. For example:

• The things that cause cancer in kids usually differ from those that cause cancer in adults (for example, smoking).
• Children usually respond well to treatment. Most kids with cancer get better.
• Side effects of cancer treatments can be more severe and longer lasting in kids. Children who have had cancer will need careful medical follow-up for the rest of their lives.

Signs & Symptoms

What Are the Signs & Symptoms?

There are many different signs that a kid may have cancer. A few of the more common symptoms of cancer include:

• extreme exhaustion
• swelling or lumps in certain parts of the body, like the abdomen (belly) or neck
• headaches
• blurred vision
• nausea
• problems with walking or balance
• more infections
• unusual bleeding

Cancer, like most illnesses, is easier to treat when it's found early, so if your child has any symptoms, talk with your doctor.

Causes

Why Do Children Get Cancer?

Most of the time, doctors don't know why kids get cancer. In children, a genetic condition, like Down syndrome, can sometimes increase the risk of cancer. Kids who have had chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer are more likely to get cancer again.

But most cases of childhood cancer happen because of random gene mutations (changes) in growing cells. Because these changes happen randomly, there is no effective way to prevent them.

Cancer Isn’t Contagious

Doctors do know for sure that cancer itself is not contagious. People can’t catch it from someone else or spread it to another person.

Diagnosis

How Is It Diagnosed?

When doctors think someone has cancer, they’ll order various tests. These might include:

• blood tests, in which blood cells are examined under a microscope for problems
• X-rays
• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), a test that can be used to detect tumors

Doctors who specialize in treating people with cancer are called oncologists (ahn-KOL-uh-jists). They often use a biopsy (BYE-op-see) to diagnose cancer. In this procedure, a doctor removes a small tissue sample to examine it for cancer cells.

Treatment & Care

How Is Cancer Treated?

Getting treatment at a medical center that specializes in pediatric oncology (treatment of childhood cancer) can help kids with cancer get the best care.

The treatment of cancer in children can include:

• surgery: removing cancerous cells or tumors
• chemotherapy: using medical drugs to kill cancer cells
• radiation therapy: using radiant energy to kill cancer cells
• immune therapy: using some medicines to help the immune system fight cancer
• bone marrow (stem cell) transplant: putting healthy stem cells into the bloodstream so they can make healthy new blood, bone marrow, and immune system cells

Doctors may use one or more of these treatments for a child who has cancer. The kind of treatment needed depends on the child's age, the type of cancer, and how severe the cancer is.

How Can I Help My Child?

• Try to help manage side effects. The main goal when treating kids with cancer is to cure them — but treatment may cause side effects. Fortunately, there are many medicines and therapies that can help kids feel more comfortable during treatment. Your doctor can suggest some options. 
• Talk with your child. When possible, involve kids in their own cancer treatment by talking with them about their care and answering their questions. Use language your child will understand and explain the facts about the cancer and its effects. With younger kids — toddlers and those younger than age 4 — saying that they’re "sick" and need "medicine" to get better can be enough of an explanation. For all age groups, the goal is to prevent fear and misunderstanding.
• Help with feelings and emotions. Many kids might feel guilty, as if the cancer is somehow their fault. It's simply not true that they may have done something wrong to get the disease. Psychologists, social workers, and other members of the cancer treatment team can be a great help in reassuring kids and helping them cope with their feelings.
• Loop in teachers. Some kids with cancer may need the help of a home tutor to get schoolwork done.
• Get support for your family. Having a child being treated for cancer can feel overwhelming for any family. But you're not alone. To find support, talk to anyone on the care team or a hospital social worker. Many resources are available to help you and your child.

You also can find information and support online at:

• National Cancer Institute
• American Childhood Cancer Organization
• American Cancer Society
• Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation
• Health Care Tool Box