Cancer is not only a major killer that threatens the health of adults, but its harm cannot be ignored for children aged 0-14.

In 2018, the estimated incidence of new malignant tumors in children aged 0-14 in Jiangsu Province was 8.79/100,000. The top 5 incidences were leukemia, brain tumor, lymphoma, bone cancer, and liver cancer, among which leukemia was the most common. A malignant tumor with a high incidence, accounting for 53.96% of all malignant tumors in children aged 0-14 in Jiangsu Province in 2018.

Many people believe that childhood cancer is a "miniature version" of adult cancer, only the age of onset is different.

In fact, childhood cancers differ significantly from adult cancers in terms of disease composition, pathogenesis, and the mechanisms that drive malignant progression.

Childhood cancer is not a "mini version" of adult cancer.

  Factors such as the external environment, personal habits, and viral infections are the main causes of gene mutations in adult cancers. For example, smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, long-term UV exposure can induce skin cancer, and eating pickled foods is easy to get stomach cancer.

These external factors keep the normal metabolic processes of healthy cells in the body going awry, eventually causing cancer to develop.

  In the pathogenesis of childhood cancer, more congenital factors are involved.

For example, some children have gene mutations in the embryonic period, so they are more likely to be induced by external factors after birth, causing many children to develop the disease at a young age (under 3-5 years old); some tumor-causing genes are hereditary For example, retina and Wilms tumor have obvious genetic predisposition, and studies have found that about 40% of retinoblastoma are caused by genetics.

  The same cancer has different cure rates.

For example, in the same lymphoma and leukemia, the survival rate of children is higher than that of adults. Cancer that cannot be cured in adults does not mean that children cannot be cured.

The overall survival rate of children with cancer can reach more than 80%, which is much higher than that of adults.

For another example, in acute myeloid leukemia, the overall 5-year survival rate for children is 67% and for adults it is 28%; for Hodgkin lymphoma, the overall 5-year survival rate for children is over 98% and for adults it is 87%.

Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Yang Yan

  How can children prevent cancer?

  1. Parents pay attention to occupational protection

  Experts point out that there is a certain relationship between the occupation of parents and the occurrence of childhood tumors.

For example, in the past, the children of drivers had more malignant tumors. That was because in the 1950s and 1960s, there were few gas stations, and some cars for long-distance transportation would have a large barrel on the car, and drivers had a long-term relationship with gasoline. touch.

In the long run, the carcinogens in gasoline will directly contaminate them, and ultimately lead to an increased chance of their children developing malignant tumors.

  2. Sun exposure should also be moderate

  Long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays can easily cause skin cancer, especially after skin burns, the possibility of skin cancer is higher.

Some people think that if children are afraid of calcium deficiency, they should bask in the sun more. From a medical point of view, this makes sense, but in practice, it is not necessary to have so much sunbathing to solve the problem.

  3. Avoid inhaling "second-hand smoke"

  There are more than 70 known carcinogens in tobacco.

Tobacco is an invisible killer, and it is adolescents who suffer the most. After birth, if a baby is exposed to second-hand smoke, its cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory systems will be greatly affected.

  4. Maintain a healthy weight from an early age

  As we all know, obesity has a lot of harm, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, etc. are all related to it.

For children, it is also quite dangerous.

Children's diseases can often continue into adulthood, and if they are still obese in adulthood, it is quite difficult to lose weight.

Obesity is associated with colon cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer in women.