There are many discussions that remain in the world about what is the number one killer in children today, cancer; and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is one of the most common childhood diseases, more likely to occur in children under the age of fifteen. (Leukemia-Lymphoma) There are few adults that may end up getting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia but the symptoms would be much harder to find than it would be in a child.
Although cancer in children is getting to the point where it is becoming rare or well it may seem that way, one in every three hundred and fifty American children will start to develop the symptoms of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia just by the time they would reach the age of 21 years. Even with a high percentage of being cured from all the cancer cells, doctors always say that they find the cure for the type of cancer that they are dealing with, but they also tell the patient that the cancer may return. One may ask should the cancer should return if the doctor tells the patient he or she is cured?
The rates of curing the cancer completely in children are only around eighty percent, so there is still a twenty percent chance that the patient could still die, even after the “cure” has taken place. (“Saint Judes Children’s Hospital”) There are many patients that fall into the eighty percent range but they still know that there is a chance that their cancer can or will return and death would still then occur. Many would just end up giving up the will to want to live through all of the pain and suffering they have already been put through, falling dramatically from the eighty to the twenty percent in the matter of hours or even minutes.
There are about 200,000 Americans who are survivors of any childhood cancers, a...
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... a month. After the Induction chemotherapy, the next step should be the transplants or consolidation chemotherapy, depending on the treatment plans. (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Marrow)
Most people may not know that ALL does start to change with a single cell in the bone marrow. And they are still studying the genetic changes that cause a normal cell to become the ALL cells. (Leukemia-Lymphoma)
Works Cited
"Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - Patient Information." National Marrow Donor Program - Be The Match Marrow Registry. Nattional Marrow Donor Program. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. .
"Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia." The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. .
Because of advancements in technology and funding survival rates have increased in each patient and quality of life due to better chemotherapy and radio therapy drugs are helping millions of survivors round the world to lead a generally normal life without the risk of the cancer returning.
On Sunday, a nurse on a medical/surgical floor in a large private hospital is assigned as the primary nurse to a woman who was just admitted. The woman’s testing begins on Monday and the primary nurse does not have work for the next few days. The nurse returns on Saturday and goes over the woman’s charts. The nurse discovers that the woman has chronic lymphocytic leukemia and is being treated for the disease. After approaching the woman the nurse realizes that the woman is unaware of her diagnoses as she asks the nurse when she will be able to return to work. The nurse explains that she has not yet spoken with the physician and will get back to her once she has done so. On your way back to the nurses' station, one of the woman's two daughters approaches the nurse and urges the nurse to assure her mother that there is no reason for concern. The daughter explains that her mother has just been through a painful divorce and
Pediatric oncology has been so very rewarding in many ways, but also so very cruel in a few ways. The good days are great, but the sad days are heartbreaking. But beyond the death and the suffering, there is a whole other layer of
Disease can damage blood marrow and tissue. In order to repair this damage, doctors can transplant the stem cells described above into the patient in need. There are a few different names for this kind of transplant procedure. They are: bone marrow transplant, a peripheral blood stem cell transplant, and a cord blood transplant (American Cancer Society, 2013). The process of transplanting these hematopoietic stem cells involves a number of complex steps. The first step involves the patient receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation, which kill the diseased cells. This “conditions” the area (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 2014). Next, healthy stem cells are infused into this conditioned area. “These transplanted stem cells will begin to grow and produce healthy red and white blood cells and platelets” (Dana-Farber Can...
...al Cancer Institute." National Cancer Institute - Comprehensive Cancer Information. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. .
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the worlds largest non-profit organization which funds blood cancer research and providing patient services and education. The LLS mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma and to improve quality of patients and there families. This is done by discovering new cures and making blood cancers a story of the past.The organizations national office is located in White Plains, NY. Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has local chapters through out the United States and Canada.
Steen, Grant R. and Joseph Mirro. Childhood Cancer: A Handbook From St.Jude Children's Research Hospital . Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publisher, 2000.
Cancer patients often wonder if going through treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are worth the risk of the side effects, in addition to the cancerous side effects. They feel that they can’t enjoy or relax in what a short amount of time they have left because they are bedridden from the nausea and pain that treatments put them through. Patients tell their loved ones to just let them die so long as they don’t have to go through any more pain. Those who are too old, are unable to recover from the effects, or are just too far in the grips of cancer, should refuse the more harsh treatments like chemo and radiation. On the positive side, refusing treatments after a certain point can save their families from the stress and cost of hospital bills. If caught early enough, patients can opt for safer and easier routes to getting rid of cancer like surgery or by doing a stem cell transplant.
III. Imagine your best friend has just been diagnosed with leukemia, a disease requiring regular transfusions of platelets.
Kids are meant to be happy, play outside, go to school, and have fun. They aren’t meant to sit in hospitals, losing weight by the pound, carrying around IV poles filled with poison. It’s ridiculous and immature that we don’t have a cure for childhood cancer. The only “treatment” that we have is chemotherapy- a chemical that seems to help fight off cancer. Chemo doesn’t just fight off cancer cells though- it fights off healthy cells in your blood, mouth, digestive system, and hair follicles. The most frustrating thing about childhood cancer is that only 4% of federal funding is exclusively dedicated to childhood cancer research. It is true that more adults get diagnosed with cancer than kids, but does that mean that adults are 96% more important than children? The average age of diagnosis for an adult with cancer is age 67, and the average number of years lost is 15. 15 years are definitely many years, but not that many compared to the average number of years lost for a child- 71. Also, age 67 is a lot older than the average age of diagnoses for a child- age 6. At least the adults get to grow up and have the ability to even have cancer- some of these kids can’t even get through a fifth of their lives.
Kanwar, V.S. (2013, Sep 16). Diseases & Conditions - Medscape Reference. Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Retrieved January 13, 2014, from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/990113-overview#a0156
People believe that the sun is the biggest, brightest star in the universe. In reality though, it is not. The sun is classified as a star, but there are many other stars out there that make the sun look like a dull grain of sand. The sun is very powerful though. It fuses hydrogen atoms into helium. This energy will allow the sun to give off a ton of light and heat for a long time. Since the sun can give off this much energy and heat just think how much more the other bigger stars give off. This leads us to the idea that the North Star, Polaris, is another star that is up there on the list of the “biggest and brightest”. While it is really bright, this is only because it is so close to us. Technically it is an average size star in a convenient spot for us to guide to.
Yeoh, C., E. Kiely, and H. Davies. "Unproven treatment in childhood oncology - how far should paediatricians co-operate." Journal of Medical Ethics. v20, n2. June 1994. pp. 75-77.
How does one see the symptoms for childhood cancer? First one must know that there are many different types. There are forty different types of children’s cancer, including: Leukemia, Lymphoma, Sarcomas, cancers of the nervous system, liver cancers, kidney cancer, and more. Out of these cancers, the two most common childhood cancers are Leukemia, and brain tumors. What is leukemia? It is a cancer in which the bone marrow and other organs that produce blood produce and increased amount of immature or abnormal white blood cells. The symptoms of leukemia are paleness, excessive bruising, pain in the joints, and fatigue. Brain tumors are formed when a massive amount of cells are produced on the brain. The symptoms for this are frequent headaches, vomiting, seizures, decreased coordination, weakness, and problems concerning vision.
Because cells are the ‘basic unit of life’, the study of cells, cytology, can be considered one of the most important areas of biological research. Almost every day on the evening news, we are told about new discoveries in cell biology, such as cancer research, cloning, and embryology. (https://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073031216/student_view0/exercise3/the_importance_of_cell_biology.html)