High Chance of Treatment in Childhood Leukemia

"Families should not feel helpless. Because we can achieve very successful results in the treatment of childhood cancers."

Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Center Supervisor, stating that social awareness about leukemia should be increased, pity or despair should not be allowed to develop in this regard, said, "Especially families should not feel helpless. Because we can achieve very successful results in the treatment of childhood cancers." They said that leukemia, also known as blood cancer among people, is the most common type of cancer in childhood, but the disease is not sufficiently recognized due to the lack of socially desired awareness and information pollution.

Bruises Are An Important Symptom

Our specialist, who stated that leukemia in childhood is cancer that develops with the uncontrolled growth of cells in the bone marrow and that rashes, red spots, and bruises are among the most important symptoms of leukemia, emphasized that families also apply to the physician with licks such as pallor and weakness, rash and easily occurring bruises on the body, bleeding gums, and sometimes swelling in the lymph nodes of the neck. Pointing out that leukemia can occur at any age in childhood, "It is most common between the ages of 2-5. When the history of patients is examined, it is observed that it mostly develops after a viral infection. However, the exact cause of leukemia is still unknown. However, some risk factors are thought to cause an increase in the disease."

A Marrow Transplant Is Not Required

Pointing out that the information that all childhood leukemias require bone marrow transplants is also wrong, they said: "In some types of childhood leukemia, we can cure 85 percent of it with chemotherapy alone. Those in the remaining section can surprise and repeat. In our molecular studies, we treat the disease with stem cell transplantation in the high-risk group, which we found will not improve with chemotherapy in terms of response to treatment. It is not possible to give a single figure for the success of stem cell transplantation. Success percentages vary according to the type of disease, stage, characteristics of stem cell donor, and transplant type. Targeted therapies, smart molecules, which now play an important role in cancer treatment, play an important role in the treatment of childhood leukemia. Some of these directly destroy only leukemia cells by recognizing the cell from the outside. Some of them constitute the group defined as cellular treatment. Here again, the patient's own immunological system cells are used. Immunological treatments are a very valid treatment method, especially after stem cell transplant."