(Newswire.net — March 26, 2020) — Leukemia is a cancer of blood-forming tissues, comprising both bone marrow and the lymphatic system. Many types of leukemia exist, with some more common in children than adults. Treatment for leukemia can be complicated and costly, depending on the type of leukemia involved and other factors. If you are researching leukemia treatment in children in Bangkok, please read the following article to understand how the disease works and courses of treatment available in Thailand.
What is Children’s Leukemia
Childhood leukemia is the most commonly occurring type of cancer in children and teens. Just like with adult leukemia, it causes abnormal white blood cells to form in bone marrow. These cells quickly travel through the bloodstream and crowd out healthy cells, which in turn lowers the body’s ability to fight off infection and other problems.
Almost all cases of childhood leukemia develop rapidly, meaning they are acute. Only a small percentage are chronic and grow slowly. The most common types of childhood leukemia are acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); acute myelogenous leukemia (AML); hybrid or mixed-lineage leukemia, rare leukemia with features of both ALL and AML; and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), a unique type that occurs in children under age four.
Many signs and symptoms of childhood leukemia appear when leukemia cells crowd out healthy cells. Common symptoms include:
- fever
- rashes
- pale skin
- infections
- seizures
- coughing
- vomiting
- headaches
- gum problems
- loss of appetite
- abnormal vision
- rapid weight loss
- bone or joint pain
- balance problems
- shortness of breath
- easy bleeding or bruising
- extreme fatigue or weakness
- swelling in the face, arms, neck, abdomen, or groin
The good news is that as severe as it is for a child to have cancer, most children and teens with childhood leukemia are successfully treated. Childhood cancers tend to respond to treatment better than adult cancers do, and children’s bodies often tolerate treatment better than their adult counterparts.
Specialist Care
Diagnosis
To diagnose childhood leukemia, a doctor will need to undertake a thorough medical history, physical exam, and testing. Initial tests may include blood tests, to measure the number and look of blood cells; bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (from the pelvic bone), to confirm the diagnosis; and lumbar puncture, or spinal tap, to check the spread of leukemia cells. A highly trained pathologist will also examine cells from the blood under a microscope and check the bone marrow samples for the number of blood-forming cells and fat cells.
Treatment
Like with many other forms of cancer, chemotherapy is the first line of treatment for childhood leukemia. A child will be given anticancer drugs, either by the mouth, vein, or spine. To keep leukemia from returning, this course of treatment may be administered over 2 to 3 years.
In conjunction, many physicians will also undertake to treat the patient with a round of targeted therapy. This therapy focuses on specific areas of the cancer cells. It’s a popular method because it can be highly effective for certain types of childhood leukemia and has less severe side effects than chemotherapy.
Another somewhat common type of treatment is radiation therapy. This uses high-energy radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. Most importantly, it can prevent the spread of leukemia into other healthy parts of the body.
If the above three “standard” treatments don’t work, the last option is a stem cell (aka bone marrow) transplant; this involves the transplanting of blood-forming stem cells into the patient, followed by whole-body radiation and high-dose chemotherapy. Considered the most severe course of treatment available, it’s saved until all other avenues of treatment have been exhausted.