Childhood leukemia comes to be cured with proper treatment

Although in Mexico leukemia is still the most frequent cancer in children, with a timely diagnosis up to 70% of patients can reach a total cure. According to the doctor Hugo Rivera Márquez , Chief of Oncology of the Pediatrics Hospital of the National Medical Center Siglo XXI of the IMSS, each year 7,200 cases of cancer are diagnosed in a national level, most of them are developed by multifactorial factors and the least by hereditary causes or genetic

The specialist recommends parents, be attentive to changes and symptom that they observe in their children as: prolonged fever , inflammation in the abdomen , pallor , loss of energy and of weight quickly, as well as Headaches persistent Bleeding, loss of balance, sudden change in the child's behavior, and loss or loss of sight may also occur. As in all cases, it is essential to go to the doctor and rule out self-medication. If a timely diagnosis is made and appropriate treatment is prescribed, the prognosis of children suffering from leukemia is very good.


Types of leukemia in children

Approximately 98% of leukemias in children are acute and are subdivided into acute lymphocytic leukemia (LLA) and AML (LMA) About 60% of children suffering from leukemia suffer first and about 38% from AML. The lymphocytic form of the disease occurs most frequently in small from 2 to 8 years , with a more marked incidence at the age of 4 years. If a child has a twin who was diagnosed with the disease before age 6, he or she has a chance to develop ALL or LMA from 20% to 25%. In general, twins and other siblings of children suffering from leukemia have a risk of developing the disease two or four times higher than the average.


Treatment for childhood leukemia

According to the specialists of the Foundation Joseph Carreras of Fight against Leukemia, the treatment is complex, varies according to the type of leukemia and is not usually the same for all patients. It can include: medicines or chemotherapy intravenously or orally, intrathecal chemotherapy (drugs introduced into the spinal cord with a needle, in the area called the subarachnoid space), radiotherapy, bone marrow transplant or umbilical cord blood, biological therapy, medications to prevent and treat nausea and other side effects of treatment, blood transfusions (from red blood cells or platelets) and antibiotics to prevent and treat infections.
 


Video Medicine: Childhood Leukemia (March 2024).