Is It True That Children's Brain Tumour Is On The Rise?
Updated: Feb 11
Only a month ago, we recognized the 15th International Brain Tumour Awareness Week. Since then, what has been concerning is the realization that children today are less immuned to brain tumors. Brain tumors constitute 25 percent of all cancers diagnosed in children. There is no guessing that the condition turns critical most of the time. Interestingly, the recent studies of 2021 by A Cancer Journal for Clinicians reveal malignant brain tumor incidence rates dropped by a significant percentage annually for all ages from 2017. But it jumped from 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent every year for children till teenage. Though Brain Tumor Is Curable, It Can Have Serious Consequences Some pediatric brain tumours and their treatments can cause significant long-term cognitive deficits and intellectual and neurological function problems if not life-threatening. It can impact how the child functions and how challenging it would be to hop back to normal life. Due to the complexities that brain tumors entail, they are categorized into different classes for better identification. In children, most brain tumors are primary in nature as they start in the brain itself. Others are metastasized to the brain from other affected parts (secondary tumors). Primary Tumors prevalent in children are astrocytomas, ependymomas, brainstem gliomas, and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs). What Are The Common Signs And Symptoms? A tumor is a mass of abnormally growing cells. Unlike normal cells, these cells divide and multiply rapidly. There are several ways for these cells to grow and create pressure in the brain based on location. It has the potential to alter the way the body functions. It can be recognized by a variety of signs and symptoms. Some common ones are: Drowsiness and fatigue. Psychomotor retardation.
Vomiting and nausea.
Personality and mental disorders.
Headaches.
Infants with an enlarged head. What Is Causing Pediatric Brain Tumor To Rise?
Genetics: Brain tumours are more likely to develop in children with certain genetic conditions. The mutated genes provide wrong information to the cells, and as a result, they grow abnormally. But for the rising number of cases, genetics alone cannot play the role as it takes generations for the genetic disorder to be prominent. It was also once confirmed by Dr. Phillip Lupo in an interview. He is a reputed genetic epidemiologist and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Environment: The other more probable factor for rising cases is the increased exposure to environmental carcinogens. Though the studies are still preliminary, scientists have established a connection between primary CNS and brain tumours and toxic agents (N-nitroso compounds, pesticides), air pollution, and radiofrequency electromagnetic waves, brain-ionizing irradiation present in the environment. They all pose as potential risk factors for children. Diagnosis And Treatment
Imaging tests like CT scans and MRIs are used for viewing the entire structure of the brain. It not only shows the actual location of the tumor but also helps the surgeon evaluate the best approach to reach the tumor as the brain is full of vital components that shouldn't be disturbed. It also helps in grading the tumor (determining aggressiveness). Surgery is the primary modality for most pediatric tumors and a good surgical clearance is of utmost importance as it can increase life expectancy and also help in reducing the requirement of radiation postoperatively. There are multiple advancements in histopathological grading and immunohistochemistry which helps determine the most suitable post-operatively treatment protocol(postoperatively chemotherapy and radiotherapy) tailored to each individual child with such brain tumor. Dr. Raveesh Sunkara is one of the best neurosurgeons in Hyderabad. He has ample experience in dealing with such pediatric brain tumors and works at Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad which provides all the modern technologies and state-of-the-art operating suites. These modern facilities not only help in the fastest recovery of the child but also helps reduce the brain tumor surgery cost by avoiding complications that incur huge bills by increasing the length of stay in the hospitals. e. What Are The Survival Chances For Children With Brain Tumours?
Low-grade tumors in children do not produce drastic effects. With proper treatment, the survival chances go much more than 50 percent. Children with pilocytic astrocytoma have a 90 percent chance of beating brain cancer in about five years of diagnosis, In the case of glioblastoma, the chances of survival are slimmer than 80 percent. Unfortunately, it accounts for approximately 48.6 percent of all malignant tumors in children. Dr. Raveesh Sunkara who runs one of the best tumor clinics in Hyderabad at Yashodha hospitals emphasizes two things, accelerated diagnosis of brain tumors in children and prompt treatment. They are the keys to successful treatment in such tumors.
