Know the signs of childhood cancer

A few weeks back, a mother took her 4 years old boy to consult me. According to the mother, the boy had been suffering from low grade fever for more than a month with pallor, limb pains and occasional nasal bleeding. He was feeling weak all the time and lost significant weight. Initially, that mother did not paid much attention to the symptoms but gradually it became a cause for concern for the her.
On physical examination, the boy had moderate anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, minute skin bleeding and some enlarged lymph nodes. Peripheral blood film examination gave the clue and bone marrow examination confirmed the diagnosis. It was a case of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) — the commonest childhood malignancy.
Other childhood malignancies include Brain tumor, Retinoblastoma (malignant tumor of eye), Wilm's tumor or kidney tumor), Lymphoma, Sarcoma etc. Overall, in children less than 15 years of age in the industrialised world, childhood cancer is listed as the 4th most common cause of death.
The causes of childhood cancers are largely unknown. A few conditions, such as Down syndrome, other specific chromosomal and genetic abnormalities, and ionising radiation exposures, explain a small percentage of the cases. Environmental causes of childhood cancer have long been suspected by many scientists, but have been difficult to pin down.
Now a days, childhood malignancies have better outcome if these can be diagnosed earlier and appropriate measure can be initiated timely.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Medical College Hospitals and some large private hospitals have the facility to treat these childhood cancer in Bangladesh.
Any child having prolonged unexplained fever with pallor with weakness, loss of weight with enlarged liver, spleen or lymph nodes, should be immediately consulted with a paediatrician. Prompt diagnosis and early treatment prolongs survival and even may cure the disease.

The writer is a Paediatrician working at Community Based Medical College, Mymensingh.
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