Future of treating childhood cancer promising
Children in the Eastern Cape suffer from different forms of cancer to those in the Western world.
This was according to Professor Robert Carachi of Glasgow in the UK. Carachi was the guest speaker at the annual Eyabantwana Lecture on Tuesday morning.
He spoke about the history of childhood cancer and commented on the current status of the illness.
Carachi said while in the west neuroblastoma was the most prevalent tumour in children, a kidney cancer known as Wilms tumour, was common in the Eastern Cape and the rest of Africa. What was distinct about the Eastern Cape was a phenomenon of “co-morbidity” – when children with cancer also suffered from other serious illnesses which attacked children’s immune systems, such as HIV-Aids and TB.
Carachi said: “I think you’re seeing more children with comorbidities here. This means cancer treatment in Africa must be tailored according to the geography and needs of the population.”
Professor Milind Chitnis of the Eyabantwana Children’s Trust added to the list of woes faced by young cancer sufferers in SA.
Chitnis said these children faced “multiple other problems such as poor backgrounds, poor nutrition and more exposure to HIV or TB”.
“So we have to take all these factors into consideration when we treat cancer patients.” Carachi said childhood cancer could be traced back centuries.
“There have always been children with cancer. More cases are just being picked up now because before, a child would’ve died and they’d put it down to an infection or something like that. But now with modern technology, everyone is picking it up faster. That doesn’t necessarily mean that cancer incidence has gone up, it’s just being picked up more.”
The good news is that childhood cancers are more curable than adult cancers.
Carachi said the future of treating children was promising with medical technological advancements.