Other Cancers - This Battle Which I Must Fight: Cancer in Canada's Children and Teenagers

OTHER CANCERS

The cancers described thus far account for approximately 80 percent of cancers affecting children and teenagers. Three additional cancer types seen in this age group deserve mention because of their importance at specific ages. These cancers are described in greater detail in the book, Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy: How it is Diagnosed, Treated and Managed Day to Day (Appendix 5).

Epithelial cancers are those that arise in glands or tissues that line organs such as the breast, lung, stomach, intestine or bladder. They account for eight percent of cancers in children and teenagers, but represent 18 percent of cancers in the age group 15 to 19 years (Table 1). Approximately 95 children and teenagers are diagnosed with epithelial cancers per year in Canada, with girls affected about 75 percent more often than boys.

Slightly more than one-third of the epithelial cancers in children and teenagers are thyroid cancers. Another 30 percent are melanoma, and a further 30 percent are a mix of tumour types commonly seen in adults. The five-year survival rate for Canadian children and teenagers diagnosed with all types of epithelial tumours between 1985 and 1988 was over 85 percent (Table 7).

Germ cell and other gonadal tumours account for six percent of tumours in children and teenagers. Each year, approximately 65 children and teenagers are diagnosed with this type of tumour (Table 1). Boys are affected approximately 50 percent more often than girls. Two-thirds of these tumours arise in the gonads (sex organs: testicles and ovaries); the remaining one-third arises in a variety of sites, most commonly the central nervous system. Germ cell tumours occur most frequently in infants (less than one year of age) and in teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 years. The five-year survival rate for Canadian children and teenagers diagnosed with these cancers between 1985 and 1988 was over 80 percent (Table 7).

Retinoblastoma is a tumour of the retina, the membrane at the back of the eyeball. It represents fewer than two percent of cancers in children and teenagers, but accounts for eight percent of cancers in infants and four percent of cancers in children one to four years of age. In Canada, about 20 children are diagnosed with this tumour each year, 19 before the age of five years (Table 1). Both eyes are affected in 20 to 30 percent of children with retinoblastoma.

Treatment is aimed at destroying the tumour at the back of the eye. Sometimes the eye must be removed and replaced by an artificial one. The five-year survival rate for Canadian children diagnosed with this tumour between 1985 and 1988 was over 95 percent (Table 7).

Although the survival rate for this cancer is very good, its diagnosis can be traumatic for parents. This is because the child's vision can be threatened or compromised and because, in approximately 40 percent of cases, retinoblastoma results from an inherited abnormality. Children with both eyes affected almost always have the hereditary form of the disease. Genetic counselling for the family is recommended. More information on this cancer is contained in the booklet, Your Child Has Retinoblastoma. (Appendix 5).

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