Pediatric Tumors
Pediatric Tumors
Pediatric tumors are uncommon, and only pediatric specialists have the skills and experience to treat them appropriately. In reality, your child will need the care of a multidisciplinary team of pediatric surgical doctors and experts. This approach ensures that your child will receive the treatment, supportive care, and rehabilitation therapies that will give them the best chance at both survival and a better quality of life.
What are the Types of Pediatric tumors?
- Sarcomas (Soft Tissue Cancer)
- Spinal Cord Tumors
- Wilms Tumor (Kidney Tumors)
- Neuroblastoma (Nerve Cancer)
- Retinoblastoma (Eye Cancer)
- Rhabdoid Tumors
- Lymphoma (Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s)
- Osteosarcoma (Bone Cancer)
- Brain Cancers (and Brain Stem Tumors)
- DIPG (a type of Brain Stem cancer)
- Leukemia (Blood Cancer)
- Hepatoblastoma (Liver Cancer)
How are Pediatric tumors diagnosed?
- If cancer is suspected, your child’s pediatrician may conduct a physical exam and may prescribe imaging tests such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to examine internal organs and tissues in more detail.
- If imaging tests indicate an atypical mass, a biopsy is performed and a tissue sample is analyzed under a microscope by a pathologist to determine if the suspicious cells are malignant. If cancer is detected, it will be assigned a stage (ranging from 0 to IV) based on how advanced the disease is and if it has spread. To aid in the staging procedure, further imaging tests like CT, MRI, positron emission tomography (PET), or bone scans may be required.
- If your child has leukemia, blood and bone marrow tests will be performed to determine blood-cell numbers. Blood is often obtained from the arm, however it may be extracted from other regions of the body in young children.
- A bone marrow aspiration and biopsy are usually required to diagnose leukemia. A needle injection just above the hip is used to retrieve a small amount of liquid bone marrow and bone-marrow tissue. A spinal tap (or lumbar puncture) may be required as well.
How are Pediatric tumors treated?
Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of these treatments are used to treat the majority of pediatric tumors.
- Chemotherapy medications, when delivered intravenously, target the rapidly developing cells that make up the majority of pediatric malignancies. Pediatric tumors react to chemotherapy better than certain adult cancers.
- Pediatric malignancies are also treated with radiation. Children lie on a table while X-ray beams are directed toward their tumors. Treatment sessions last less than 30 minutes and might take place daily for several weeks.
- Some pediatric tumors, such as some brain tumors, may be treated with Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, which uses highly concentrated radiation. Other kinds may be treated using brachytherapy, which involves inserting small radioactive pellets into the body to provide radiation exclusively to the region around the tumor.
Dr. Adwait Prakash is an expert in Pediatric tumors treatment practicing in Indore.
To book your appointment Call: 8889588832.