Cancer is one of the leading killing diseases worldwide. It is a disease that can affect everyone worldwide regardless of nationality or age. Cancer cells are cells that have been mutated. Mutated means that the cell’s DNA was copied wrong. When this happens, the cell is usually shut down by the body to prevent it from reproducing. Cancer cells reproduce 90% faster than normal cells. Pediatric cancer is cancer found in children. It is important to raise awareness to our community about different pediatric cancers and how they affect the body, what causes them, and important facts and statistics in order to help support cancer research. With MINI-Thon approaching, it is important for our community to be educated on the subject of pediatric cancer.
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ALL is a type of blood and bone marrow cancer. It begins when a white blood stem cell produces a cancerous leukemia cell. White blood cells act as the body’s “doctors” for the body, fighting infections and diseases that enter the body. If this cell is not stopped, it will begin cell reproduction and duplicate quickly. The main way leukemia affects the body is it’s inability to fight foreign disease cells. Since the DNA in the leukemia cells don’t tell the cell to fight the foreign cell, it ignores them and the foreign cells reproduce. This makes the human body prone to infections and able to get various diseases without an immune system to fight it. Leukemia can be caused by both environmental and hereditary/genetic factors. According to the Center for Disease Control, one of the environmental factors is interaction to benzene and radiation. Benzene is a chemical found primarily in crude oil and gasoline. But can also be in plastics such as rubbers and detergents. It is also one of the toxic carcinogens found in cigarettes. Benzene works by poisoning white blood cells and causing them to copy their DNA wrong, resulting in cancerous leukemia cells. Like most cancers, children whose parents had leukemia are at greater risk of developing Leukemia. Leukemia is the most common cancer found in children and teens claiming more than 250 children a year. 75% of Leukemia found in …show more content…
Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the nerve cells. It is the result of the neuroblast cells reproducing too quickly. I chose this cancer to research because it directly impacted me. My preschool best friend, Kyle Love, had a sister who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she was 18 months old. I would always hear from Kyle about his sister, Taylor, going through treatments and procedures that took away from her being able to live the life of a little girl. After seven years of fighting for her life, she was cancer free. With a survival rate of 40%, Taylor is very lucky that she is now NED (No Evidence of Disease). Unlike Leukemia, only 6% of the children under 18 with pediatric cancer have Neuroblastoma. Each year, over 700 kids are diagnosed with high-medium risk Neuroblastoma. The causes of Neuroblastoma are uncertain. So far there have been no direct links to the cancer whether it be genetic or environmental. However, unlike most cancers, Neuroblastoma has a higher chance of developing in children with no family record of the cancer. The body’s nerve system contains essential parts of the body such as the brain, spinal cord, and nerve cells. The nerve cells send signals like touch, pain, and heart rate up the spinal cord to the brain. Neuroblastoma affects the body by improperly sending the signals to the brain. When the cells are not stopped by the body’s white blood cells, they continue to reproduce and create a
ALL is a type of blood and bone marrow cancer. It begins when a white blood stem cell produces a cancerous leukemia cell. White blood cells act as the body’s “doctors” for the body, fighting infections and diseases that enter the body. If this cell is not stopped, it will begin cell reproduction and duplicate quickly. The main way leukemia affects the body is it’s inability to fight foreign disease cells. Since the DNA in the leukemia cells don’t tell the cell to fight the foreign cell, it ignores them and the foreign cells reproduce. This makes the human body prone to infections and able to get various diseases without an immune system to fight it. Leukemia can be caused by both environmental and hereditary/genetic factors. According to the Center for Disease Control, one of the environmental factors is interaction to benzene and radiation. Benzene is a chemical found primarily in crude oil and gasoline. But can also be in plastics such as rubbers and detergents. It is also one of the toxic carcinogens found in cigarettes. Benzene works by poisoning white blood cells and causing them to copy their DNA wrong, resulting in cancerous leukemia cells. Like most cancers, children whose parents had leukemia are at greater risk of developing Leukemia. Leukemia is the most common cancer found in children and teens claiming more than 250 children a year. 75% of Leukemia found in …show more content…
Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the nerve cells. It is the result of the neuroblast cells reproducing too quickly. I chose this cancer to research because it directly impacted me. My preschool best friend, Kyle Love, had a sister who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she was 18 months old. I would always hear from Kyle about his sister, Taylor, going through treatments and procedures that took away from her being able to live the life of a little girl. After seven years of fighting for her life, she was cancer free. With a survival rate of 40%, Taylor is very lucky that she is now NED (No Evidence of Disease). Unlike Leukemia, only 6% of the children under 18 with pediatric cancer have Neuroblastoma. Each year, over 700 kids are diagnosed with high-medium risk Neuroblastoma. The causes of Neuroblastoma are uncertain. So far there have been no direct links to the cancer whether it be genetic or environmental. However, unlike most cancers, Neuroblastoma has a higher chance of developing in children with no family record of the cancer. The body’s nerve system contains essential parts of the body such as the brain, spinal cord, and nerve cells. The nerve cells send signals like touch, pain, and heart rate up the spinal cord to the brain. Neuroblastoma affects the body by improperly sending the signals to the brain. When the cells are not stopped by the body’s white blood cells, they continue to reproduce and create a