Three families a day in SA told child has cancer

ALMOST three families a day in South Africa will hear that their children have been diagnosed with cancer. However, this is still only a third of the total estimated cases that are known in the country as many parents are not aware of the warning signs.

According to Childhood Cancer International, the disease continues to be the leading cause of non-communicable related death in children worldwide.

Globally, more than 300 000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year – with about 1 000 new cases in South Africa alone.

Zelda Zukiswa Jacobs, of the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation, said childhood cancers are sometimes overlooked or misdiagnosed because early symptoms are mistakenly attributed to more common injuries or illnesses because of lack of knowledge.

“Childhood cancer patients have much higher survival rates when diagnosed early. The overall rate is between 70% and 80% in developed countries, whereas in South Africa the rate of recorded cases is about 55%, partly due to the lack of awareness and late diagnosis. Early diagnosis is critical, and parents need to pay close attention to the development of any unusual symptoms and signs.”

Jacobs added that research showed that common cancers in children are different from those found in adults; most often occurring in the developing cells like bone marrow, blood, kidneys and nervous system tissues.

Lorraine Govender, the national advocacy co-ordinator at the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa), said: “In most cancers in children and teenagers, there are no known risk factors and the focus, therefore, needs to be on raising awareness of the signs and symptoms.

“Based on the most recent statistics available, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma remain two of the leading cancers among children aged between 10 and 19.

“This accounts for nearly a quarter of all the cancers affecting teenagers with a fiveyear survival rate of 79% in South Africa.”

Govender added that adolescents are currently under-represented in the national and children’s cancer registries, so the true incidence in the country was not known; only that it is higher than represented by statistics.

Cansa-funded researcher, Dr Jennifer Geel, said a diagnosis of cancer was devastating for anyone.

In the case of teenagers, she said they had to come to terms with rapidly changing life circumstances, including puberty, high school, tertiary education, entry into the workplace, relationships, individuating from their parents and becoming adult members of society.

“They struggle to manage themselves, while their lives are threatened. There are high rates of depression among teenage patients, but it is also often undiagnosed.”

Geel added that Hodgkin’s lymphoma was a highly treatable cancer that affected adolescents and young adults. However, the survival for HIV-positive patients dropped to about 45%.

“For patients to be diagnosed early enough to benefit from treatment, it’s important to know the signs, which can vary depending on where the lymphoma is found in the body.”

Some of the signs, she added, included enlarged lymph nodes (seen or felt as lumps under the skin), swollen abdomen, feeling full after only a small amount of food, shortness of breath or cough, fever, weight loss, night sweats and fatigue.

“The best chance of surviving Hodgkin’s lymphoma is to be part of the study being conducted at paediatric oncology units across the country,” Geel advised.

Cansa’s service delivery national relationship manager, Cara Noble, said although teenagers are old enough to have a better understanding of what was happening to them, they were still children and struggled with how to cope and process their current reality.

“Cansa’s TLC support services are vital to these children and their families. They need to know they are not alone. We encourage the community, family and friends of families that have a teenager or child with cancer to be kind, supportive and compassionate.”

For enquiries, visit www. cansa.org.za or call Cansa tollfree on 0800 22 66 22. CHOC’s website is www.choc.org.za