Muscat: More than 85 per cent of cancers among children are entirely treatable provided parents are educated and know when to get their child screened, Head of the Department of Paediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Royal Hospital, said.

Dr. Abeer Al-Batashi, Head of the Department of Paediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Royal Hospital, spoke exclusively to Times of Oman and Al Shabiba about the increasing incidence of cancer among children and the cure rate among them.

“There are two types of cancer among children, including solid cancer and leukaemia. The cure rate for solid cancer among children is about 85% or above as they are subjected to several examinations and continuous treatment and because children accept treatment better than adults.”

Dr. Abeer confirmed that deaths are very few among children with solid cancer compared to adults as only about one to two deaths per month are recorded among children, and during some months the figure is nil.

The high cure rate among children is attributable to children’s better response to treatment as compared to the elderly. It has also been biologically proven that cancerous tumours among children are completely different from those among adults in structural terms, she said.

Dr. Al-Batashi said that one of the reasons for deaths among children with solid cancer is that some of them have brain tumours, or they have cancer in advanced stages that are difficult to cure due to delay in diagnosis.
“As for the second type of cancer among children, it is leukaemia, and the cure rate for it is more than 90 percent in the Department of Hematology and Oncology, and this percentage is equal to the cases of recovery in developed countries like the United States of America, Canada, Britain and others,” Dr. Al Batashi said.

She continued: “The remaining percentage of leukaemia deaths, 5% to be precise, are due to infections or due to medication complications while receiving treatment, or heart muscle weaknesses or blood clotting.”

Dr. Abeer confirmed that 5% of the patients with leukaemia among children return to the disease after recovery, and here the treatment of the disease is difficult, so they are sent to bone marrow transplant centres, either in the Sultanate or abroad, through the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Batashi also spoke about the increasing incidence of cancer among children and said, “In general globally, the rate of increase in the incidence of cancer among children is about 20-25%, and we have noticed an increase in the incidence of solid cancer among children, especially brain cancer in the Sultanate of Oman.”

Regarding the age groups of the children who come to the Department of Paediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Royal Hospital, she said: “This depends on the type of tumour as, in general, most of the patients are in the range of three to seven years. This includes cases of cancer of the brain, liver, chest, nervous and digestive systems, and others. In the age group of eight and above, they suffer from leukaemia mostly. Still, they are lesser in number than children with solid cancer.”

Regarding the number of cancer cases among children in 2022 as compared to previous years, Dr. Abeer said: “In 2016, the Sultanate recorded 110 cases of cancer among children, and in 2017, the number of children diagnosed with cancer rose to 120.

In 2021, the number of cases reached 162 and in 2022, the number of solid cancer cases in children till September reached 130 cases. There were 25 cases of leukaemia this year, bringing the number in general between 150 to 200 cases.”

Dr. Al-Batashi confirmed that the number of cases received by the department in the hospital ranges between 8-10 cases of solid cancer among children, while the number of leukaemia cases is 5-6 cases per month.

Regarding the causes of cancer among children, Dr. Abeer indicated that no one knows the real causes of cancer among children, but there are several reasons for the increase, including increase in the number of births, as well as the increased number of detections and general rise in awareness among people about cancer.

Dr. Abeer added: “There are also negative factors, including the kind of nutrition the child receives, the environment in which he lives, and also the neglect by some parents of their children. Then there are genetic factors although this is rare. Down’s Syndrome is another such factor, besides the seasonal viruses that the child is infected with.”

Source: Times Of Oman