Pediatric Cancer Research Paper

More Funding for Pediatric Cancer Studies show that one in five kids who are diagnosed with cancer will die. This horrifying disease is the second cause of death in children and infants. Pediatric Cancer can not only affect the child who is going through various tests and therapy, but also the supporting family who watched their son or daughter grow. Millions of money is donated every year, but yet there still will be, in 2015, more than 10,000 reported cases of children under 15. Out of those 16,000, more than 1,000 are expected to die (Cancer Facts and Statistics). This statistic is horrible, and maybe if more money were funded, then those children will live. Pediatric Cancer is severely underfunded and overlooked, especially in the United

Some of the causes include: genetic abnormalities or exposure to radiation or other harmful chemicals. It is very scary to find out that almost anyone can be exposed to cancer at any age.

Cancer can cause lifetime side-effects for adults and children. For example, of a girl who is five years old may take four years to complete her treatment. She is now considered cancer-free, except she is now at risk of having children in the future.

For pediatric cancer, the most common is Leukemia. There are four main types of Leukemia: acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL, acute myeloid leukemia AML, chronic lymphocytic leukemia CLL and chronic myeloid leukemia CML. The chronic leukemias occur when two chromosomes switch place. This produces enzymes, and these enzymes trigger cell growth. It may take as much as 10 years for chronic cancers to fully develop. More and more white blood cells start appearing. They resemble normal blood cells, but are actually very harmful to the body. The other most common type of Leukemia is acute. This cancer, unlike the chronic cancers, develop very quickly. Premature white blood cells start multiplying very quickly. Seventy percent of all cases can be cured through chemotherapy, radiation, or bone marrow transplant

Chemotherapy, which is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to target and destroy the cancer cells, is the most-common route of a patient diagnosed with Leukemia. It can come via pill, cream on your skin, or even an injection. Although this treatment sounds harmless, it can actually start affecting other parts of your body that were otherwise healthy, and can also cost a fortune. Another treatment option is radiation. This treatment option uses high-energy waves to destroy cancerous cells. A disadvantage of this procedure is that it has a likely-chance of killing normal cells which are not doing any harm to the body. Side effects will depend on certain situations. The third procedure is bone marrow transplant. As described earlier, the bone marrow transplant has to come from a relative or someone with the same body structure as the patient. Any donor must be healthy and willing. The bone marrow is crucial to your body,and if anything goes wrong, it could affect the whole body. Each of these solutions for a child with cancer have pros and