Cancer occurs in people of all ages and can affect any part of the body while the disease is a leading cause of death for children and adolescents worldwide.
It is afflicting that the number of cancer patients has been increasing day by day due to food habits, unhealthy lifestyles and the negative impact of industrialization and technology.
In such a situation, if left untreated, cancer generally expands, invades other parts of the body and causes death. However early diagnosis of the disease enhances the survival rate.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), in Bangladesh, the number of cancer patients is more than 15 lakh and children and teenagers are the worst victims of the deadly disease.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, among the cancer-affected people, about one-third are children and adolescents in city areas. And their age is between one and nineteen years. Of them, children aged between 15 and 19 are mostly affected.
On the other hand, about 13 per cent of children are affected by cancer before reaching the age of only four years.
Besides, one per cent of children are affected between 10 and 14 years while two per cent are between 5 to 9 years.
Experts said environmental challenges in city life, chemical reactions in foods and the impact of Genealogy are the main causes of cancer in cities.
Assistant Professor of Child Hematology and Oncology Department of Dhaka Medical College Dr SM Rezanur Rahman said gene is the most common reason of cancer. If there is any cancer patient in a clan, it would be a problem for the next generation.
Besides, he said, environmental pollution, food habits and disorderly lifestyles are also the main reasons for cancer.
As per the survey, most men are affected by cancer after their birth while women are affected when they grow old.
The differences in cancer-affected children and teenagers between cities and villages are also alarming. The rate of affected children in city areas is about 27 per cent more compared to villages. And it is about six per cent in villages while the cancer patients aged between zero and four years are 3.33 per cent. And the number of cancer patients aged between 10 and 14 is 2.28 per cent.
Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Department of Dhaka Medical College (DMC) Professor Dr AKM Amirul Morshed Khasru researched the types of cancer among children and teenagers.
As per the research, they (children and teenagers) are mostly affected by leukaemia. Thirty-one per cent of cancer patients are affected by leukaemia. 26 per cent of children and teenagers are affected by brain and spinal cancers while 10 per cent of patients by lymph cancer.
Besides, five, six and seven per cent of patients are affected by renal, neuroblastoma and soft tissue cancers respectively. On the other hand, the children are also affected by bone, germ cell and other cancers.
Doctors said if identified early, cancer is more likely to respond to effective treatment and result in a greater probability of survival, less suffering and often less expensive.
They said prolonged fever, weight loss, night sweats, painless swellings, early morning headache with vomiting and abdominal mass may be an indication of cancer.
The physicians underlined the need for diagnosis and treatment services to be more accessible to families all over the country. Currently, a number of the major cancer hospitals or those having the requisite facilities are concentrated in big cities.
