Experts canvass early diagnosis, health insurance policy, others to reduce child cancer

Worried by the rising cases of childhood cancer and deaths in the country, medical experts have recommended early diagnosis and presentation and strong health insurance policy to reduce the scourge.

They said cancer responds to effective treatment and result in a greater probability of survival, less suffering, and often less expensive and less intensive treatment, especially when diagnosed early.

The medical experts include researchers from College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL)/Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), led by Dr. Adeseye Michael Akinsete and a clinical radiation oncologist at LUTH, Dr. Adedayo Joseph.

Other researchers from the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan led by Dr. Biobele J. Brown and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

They said half of the children who have cancer in Nigeria and other Low and Medium Income Countries (LMICs) from poor infrastructure, lack of diagnosis, lack of access to care, weak health insurance policy, inadequate workforce and absence of chemotherapeutic agents, while younger populations were also cited as a factor.

Akinsete said, “The parents will also need strong social support, while the kids are on admission. We believe that it will be important to search for possible genetic differences among the children presenting with cancers from the different geographical zones of the country.”

Researchers from the CMUL/LUTH led by Akinsete noted, “As a first step to improving the quality of care, LUTH designated the first solely pediatric oncology ward in 2011.

“It is an 18-bed ward with a procedure room, kitchen, and play area. The unit uses treatment protocols from Europe, United States of America (USA), as well as the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) guidelines with local modifications.

“We reviewed admissions, course of treatment, outcomes, and determinants of completion of treatment in the unit over the last 30 months.”

The study published in the November 2018 edition of the Journal of Clinical Sciences, the official publication of Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine University of Lagos was entitled, “Pattern of Presentation, Treatment and Determinants of Outcome of Pediatric Oncology Cases at a Tertiary institution in Lagos.”

Also, a study has found that children with aggressive cancer could be cured if they were treated with adult drugs, just as scientists found that by testing the genetic make-up of a child’s tumour, they could match it with existing drugs, but are currently only used in adult cancers.

The research has been a source of encouragement to children whose only treatment option remains one-size-fits-all chemotherapy, with its negative side effects.

The study, published in the European Journal of Cancer, involved 200 children with cancer, found that half of them had tumours with gene mutations that could be targeted with adult cancer drugs.