How Many Children Die of Cancer in India

Cancer is the scariest word as it is the most dangerous disease. There are many types of cancers that can be cured based on the stages and treatment is given depending on which stage the patient is in. The common treatments are chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery if needed. Earlier, cancer was a rare disease, where there would be few cases, but now it has become very common not just in adults, but also among kids. Do you know nearly 75,000 children in India are diagnosed with cancer each year?

The non-communicable diseases including cancer are killing nearly 50 percent of the children aged between 5-14 years. Leukemias, brain cancers, lymphomas, and solid tumours such as neuroblastomas and Wilms tumours are the most common types of childhood cancers. Childhood cancers are a significant burden in low- and middle-income countries with a weak health system, contributing to curing rates of less than 30% due to significant barriers in early diagnosis, inability to accurately diagnose, limited access to health care facilities, and inability to initiate treatment promptly.

"Despite significant improvements in cancer treatment services over the last two decades, India continues to have a low success rate when it comes to cure children malignancies altogether," said Dr Srikanth Soma, Consultant Surgical Oncologist at SLG Hospitals. This is due to the fact that the majority of cancers brought to the attention of doctors are in advanced stages. Lack of information, treatment rejection, and financial restrictions are among the leading causes of this delay in getting appropriate medical care

"Another key issue is that childhood cancer care services are now only offered at tertiary health centres in big cities, requiring the vast majority of India to depend on these few centres." he said

Childhood cancer symptoms include unexplained weight loss, persistent pain in bones, joints, or legs, lumps/masses in the belly, chest, neck, or pelvis, excessive bruising or bleeding, prolonged fatigue, a whitish appearance of the pupil, and so on. Neuroblastoma looks to be one of the most common cancers in newborns and children under the age of one year, whereas leukemias are common in children aged 1-4 years, and bone cancers are common in children aged 9-16 years.

What is Cancer? 

Cancer is a disease that occurs when cells divide uncontrollably and spread into nearby tissues. Cancer is caused by changes to DNA. The majority of cancer-causing DNA changes occur in sections of DNA known as genes. These variations are also known as genetic changes. 

Most of them doubt that cancer is related to family history. We can say that only 5 to 10 percent of cases are inherited, and most of the people who are infected with cancer won't have any family history of cancer.