Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the blood that is common in young children is currently incurable and has a high relapse rate amongst children (between the ages of 1-15 years), specifically boys. To elaborate, this disease is the cancer of white blood cells (WBCs) in which the body (depending on the type of ALL) over produces an abundance of immature lymphocytes in the bone marrow altering the immune system (i.e. the immune system becomes susceptible to infections, improper clotting, etc.). The cause for the excessive production of cells is unknown but risk factors that can make children more susceptible to this disease involves various genetic mutations such as: Down syndrome, Neurofibromatosis type 1, mismatch repair deficiency
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Side effects of these treatment options can be debilitating, toxic, and at times more difficult to subdue. Thus, the dosage given to children are often considered. This is mainly due to which groups of children are more susceptible to death from cancer as well as the treatment that comes with it. Children at the extremes of the typical age range for this cancer (younger than 1 and older than 10) are more likely to die from ALL. The reason being is that children who are above the age of 10 and are under the age of 1 are more likely to die due to the lack of gene expression as well as the lack of an immune system (in infants) and the high abundance of cell production (in adolescents). With this stated, the cost of chemotherapy and medications for ALL is expensive making it difficult for families to determine what is the best method of treatment. As such, some families resort to enrolling their child in a clinical trial as a form of financial assistance to pay for treatment, even though clinical trials may not guarantee a …show more content…
As stated earlier, a decent percentage of children tend to relapse after initial treatment and researchers are unsure as to why. The lack of understanding about relapse alters the epidemiology of this disease it alters disease progression and curability rates. What scientists would first declare as a cured patient, would then turn into a relapse changing seemingly positive values. In addition, the lack of understanding relapse also alters treatment options. Depending on when and where a child relapses, the treatment options for a child is reduced. This is mainly due to the prior treatments lack of success at removing a significant portion of cancerous cells, allowing the left-over cells to continue to proliferate and appear to be almost resistant to drugs that are designed to initiate apoptosis or cell lysis. Not only that, the remaining treatment options may not be appropriate for an ill child because they are riskier (stem cell transplant has a low success rate) leading to death. Thus, this would increase the mortality rate of children diagnosed with ALL because the child was unable to survive the vigorous treatments options left available to them. Although, this is the case, it is known that children who do relapse tend to be (males, thus consistent monitoring of boys diagnosed with cancer may be key to preventing this
Side effects of these treatment options can be debilitating, toxic, and at times more difficult to subdue. Thus, the dosage given to children are often considered. This is mainly due to which groups of children are more susceptible to death from cancer as well as the treatment that comes with it. Children at the extremes of the typical age range for this cancer (younger than 1 and older than 10) are more likely to die from ALL. The reason being is that children who are above the age of 10 and are under the age of 1 are more likely to die due to the lack of gene expression as well as the lack of an immune system (in infants) and the high abundance of cell production (in adolescents). With this stated, the cost of chemotherapy and medications for ALL is expensive making it difficult for families to determine what is the best method of treatment. As such, some families resort to enrolling their child in a clinical trial as a form of financial assistance to pay for treatment, even though clinical trials may not guarantee a …show more content…
As stated earlier, a decent percentage of children tend to relapse after initial treatment and researchers are unsure as to why. The lack of understanding about relapse alters the epidemiology of this disease it alters disease progression and curability rates. What scientists would first declare as a cured patient, would then turn into a relapse changing seemingly positive values. In addition, the lack of understanding relapse also alters treatment options. Depending on when and where a child relapses, the treatment options for a child is reduced. This is mainly due to the prior treatments lack of success at removing a significant portion of cancerous cells, allowing the left-over cells to continue to proliferate and appear to be almost resistant to drugs that are designed to initiate apoptosis or cell lysis. Not only that, the remaining treatment options may not be appropriate for an ill child because they are riskier (stem cell transplant has a low success rate) leading to death. Thus, this would increase the mortality rate of children diagnosed with ALL because the child was unable to survive the vigorous treatments options left available to them. Although, this is the case, it is known that children who do relapse tend to be (males, thus consistent monitoring of boys diagnosed with cancer may be key to preventing this