Cancer affects one to two children for every 10,000 children in the United States and is the leading cause of death by disease under the age of 14, according to the National Cancer Institute. Of the 12 major types of cancer in children, over half start in the blood, brain or central nervous system, but cancers can also occur elsewhere in the body. Childhood cancer affects children from birth through adolescence. The treatment of childhood cancer depends on the type of cancer.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a type of drug that kills cancer cells. Children get different chemotherapy drugs depending on their disease. Drugs are given by mouth, into the veins that are part of the blood system, into the tissue or muscle of the arm or leg, and occasionally into an artery or the fluid that surrounds the spinal column. Chemotherapy in combination with other treatments can effectively treat childhood cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Radiation Therapy
Children with cancer often get radiation. Radiation therapy uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells. A radiation beam is like a high-energy X-ray that is usually used for tumors. There are different ways to give radiation. External beam radiation uses a machine called a linear accelerator, which sends radiation through the skin to the cancer. Internal radiation, or brachytherapy, uses radiation that is placed near or into a tumor. Radiation to the head, or cranial irradiation, is sometimes used in children with leukemia because cancer cells may spread to the brain through the bloodstream. Stereotactic radiotherapy uses a special machine to narrowly focus or target the radiation beam in order to spare normal tissues. Systemic radiation may also be given as a liquid or pill that is swallowed, but this method is less common in children.
Surgery
If a child has a tumor, surgery may be used to remove it. Surgery is often used for solid tumors in combination with chemotherapy and radiation, according to the American Cancer Society. Surgery to place catheters to give chemotherapy or nutrition can also be done. In bone cancers, surgery may be used to replace a diseased bone with a rod.
Peripheral Stem Cell or Bone Marrow Transplant
Some childhood cancers, especially leukemia, may be treated by replacing diseased cells with healthy stem cells using a transplant procedure. Stem cells are immature cells that change into healthy white or red blood cells or into platelets that help the blood clot. Stem cells are found in the blood and called peripheral stem cells, in the spongy inside of bones, or in blood from the umbilical cord of a baby immediately after birth. Transplants can be used to replace diseased cells or to boost the blood after aggressive chemotherapy. When cells are collected from the patient when the cancer is in remission and later used for transplant, it is called an autologous transplant. If the stem cells come from a relative or an individual whose cells closely match the patient's, it is referred to as an allogeneic transplant. A syngeneic transplant is when the cells come from a patient's identical twin.
Immunotherapy
The body defends itself with the immune system. When a virus, bacteria or even a cancer cell is recognized, the immune system attacks it. Immunotherapy is also called biological therapy. Scientists are able to make substances called biological response modifiers, or BRMs, that act much like the immune system and can kill cancer cells or replace noncancerous cells killed by chemotherapy. Monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, interleukins and colony-stimulating factors are all types of BRMs that may be used in childhood cancer treatment.
