HOW TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD CANCER
are the risks?
A risk factor is something that raises your likelihood of
developing cancer. Even if you have a risk factor, cancer is not guaranteed to
understand the origins of childhood cancer?
Most children's malignancies are not curable and have unknown
etiology. It's unclear what causes childhood cancer risk factors. This is
because there are numerous different forms of these tumors, which are rare.
This makes studying these cancers challenging.
Sometimes parents of cancer patients believe that whatever
they did—or didn't do—was to blame for their child's illness. No one should
hold the blame because we don't know what causes or how to avoid the majority of
Although there are a few lifestyle modifications that can
help lower the likelihood that adults will acquire cancer. The majority of
children's malignancies don't seem to be preventable in any way.
“Cancer is not contagious. Your child cannot spread the
illness to their siblings or other students at their school, and neither can
you. Childhood cancer is diagnosed in two children from the same household
Uncertainty surrounds the causes of childhood cancer risk
factors. This is because there are many different forms of this rare group of
tumors. They are therefore challenging to investigate researchers.
Certain established risk factors can raise a child's chance
of developing cancer. Examples are provided in the list below.
It's crucial to remember that none of these have an impact
on the majority of cancer-stricken kids. And a lot of kids who are exposed to
these risk factors won't go on to get cancer.
These consist of:
- Physical ailments
- Issues with embryonic development
- Getting infections
- Radioactive contamination
- Prior cancer therapies
A child's chance of developing certain malignancies might be
increased by certain situations.
For instance, leukemia is 10–20 times more common in
children with Down's syndrome than in normal children. Open a glossary item even
in children with Down's syndrome, leukemia is still extremely infrequent.
The eye cancer retinoblastoma is extremely uncommon. An
alteration (mutation) in the retinoblastoma gene, also known as the RB1 gene,
is present in certain newborns. They might have acquired the gene from one of
their parents as a result. Or possibly because this gene underwent a change
very early on in the fetus's development. Retinoblastoma is the most common
cancer in kids who have an RB1 gene mutation. About 40 out of every 100
children with retinoblastoma that are diagnosed (about 40%) have the
inheritable kind. This frequently impacts both eyes (bilateral).
There may be a hereditary connection between several other
pediatric cancers, including Wilms' tumor (kidney cancer). But unlike retinoblastoma, the connection is less obvious.
with development in the womb
Some juvenile malignancies, such as retinoblastomas and Wilm's
tumors, develop while the kid is still inside their mother.
when a fetus is developing in the womb Many human
components, including the kidneys and eyes, start to grow extremely early on,
according to a vocabulary item. Sometimes something goes wrong, and some of the
cells that ought to have evolved (matured) into cells that form a portion of
the body don't. Instead, they continue to exist as extremely early (immature)
Usually, these immature cells don't create any issues and
develop on their own by the time the child is 3 or 4 years old. But if they
don't, they could start to swell uncontrollably and turn into a malignant
Infections with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are frequent in
young children. Typically, it has no symptoms. However, in adolescents and
young adults, it can result in glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis).
Although glandular fever can be quite uncomfortable, it typically goes away
within a few weeks and doesn't necessarily portend the development of cancer. A
person who contracts EBV becomes a lifelong carrier, yet the virus typically
has no symptoms at all.
Occasionally, EBV infection can play a role in the emergence
of malignancies including Hodgkin lymphoma and Burkitt's lymphoma.
Most people catch EBV as children and remain infected for
life without ever exhibiting any symptoms. There is currently nothing you can
do to prevent you or your child from becoming infected with EBV due to how
widespread it is.
Radiotherapy is a possible component of cancer treatment.
Ionizing radiation is the kind of radiation that is used in it. A slightly
higher chance of subsequently acquiring another type of cancer exists for
children who receive radiotherapy for cancer. However, the danger is negligible
in comparison to the potential harm to their health if radiotherapy was not
used to treat the primary malignancy.
A form of ionizing radiation, radon gas is a naturally
radioactive gas. Outdoors, it is present in the air at a low level, but
indoors, it can occasionally reach significant quantities. Since it is a
natural gas, it is challenging for us to regulate how much of it we are exposed
to. Overall, research has only hinted at a tenuous connection between indoor
radon gas levels and the incidence of juvenile leukemia.
Cancer risks, including those for acute leukemia, can rise
as a result of prior chemotherapy treatment. But in kids and adults, this
usually happens much later.
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