THIRTY-five children under the age of 18 are diagnosed with cancer and leukaemia in Cyprus each year, Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides said yesterday.
Moreover, around 150 children have been receiving cancer treatment over the past four years; and over the past 10 years, over 500 children have needed regular checkups to monitor the disease’s development, to detect relapses or long-term problems brought on by treatment, said Dr Loizos Loizou, head of the Makarios Hospital’s Paediatric Oncology Department.
The two were speaking to reporters at a news conference ahead of today’s World Cancer Day, which is dedicated to childhood cancer. Under the slogan, “My Child Matters”, this year’s campaign focuses on early detection and equal access to treatment, as well as celebrating the lives of all children around the world in the fight against childhood cancer.
According to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), cancer is the second highest cause of death in children between the ages of one and 14. The good news was that childhood cancer could largely be cured if detected sufficiently early and it was twice as curable as all adult cancers.
Gavrielides said: “The causes of childhood cancer have not fully been determined and for that reason there are no prevention recommendations for adults.”
However, he said remarkable progress had been made in the area of treatment in the last 30 years, resulting in today’s 70 per cent cure rate.
He said: “Most children will manage to beat cancer… they will beat it through a difficult and determined battle and they will be able to go on and live a good quality of life the same as other children their own age.”
The Minister said the State continued to offer, to the best of its financial ability, the best possible service, including all necessary medical and pharmaceutical care, as well as the social and psychological support of patients and their families to try and ease their pain.
He said the Makarios Hospital’s paediatric oncology-haematology clinic used “international prototypes so that children receive the most up-to-date treatments, which are based on international protocols and adhered to by most centres abroad.”
Gavrielides said the number of children cured in Cyprus corresponded to cure rates in American and European oncology centres, adding that “for every three children (with cancer), two are cured”.
ACCORDING to the UICC website, the types of cancer that occur in children differ greatly from those found in adults, as do the treatments and survival rates. Frequency of many common cancer types differs between populations.
“For example, leukaemia represents almost a third of all childhood cancers in Europe, America and East Asia, where it is the most common childhood cancer. Other tumour types are more frequent in developing countries, such as lymphomas, Kaposi’s sarcoma or retinoblastoma.
“Although there are different types of cancer, at least 85 per cent of all childhood cancers have similar signs and symptoms. These include continued, unexplained weight loss and fever; pallor; headaches – often with early morning vomiting; unusual swelling and abdominal mass; swollen head; development of excessive bruising or bleeding; white glow in the eye; and sudden changes in balance or behaviour.
“Since most of the symptoms of cancer can be interpreted as common child ailments, parents should insist, where possible, that physicians carry out tests to rule out cancer. Cancer in children develops rapidly and early diagnosis and treatment greatly improve the chances that the child will survive and live an active and productive life.”
