PESHAWAR
Terming blood cancer a curable disease, senior children oncologist, Dr Riaz Khan here Tuesday said that 85 percent of patients’ children could be cured if the fatal disease was detected and treated at an early stage.
Talking to APP, he said that September was observed as ‘Blood Cancer and Childhood Awareness Month’ in the world including Pakistan in which information about its causes, treatment and prevention were disseminated through different stakeholders and communication channels to eradicate it.
Medically known as ‘Leukemia’, he said blood cancer can affect people of all ages but most of its victims were children under 18 years,” he said, adding the fatal ailment first destroys blood cells and later key organs that prove fatal in last stages of its detection.
He said annually 8,000 to 10,000 children become its victims in Pakistan with nearly 15 percent cases related to genetics and hereditary while 85 percent due to other reasons.
He informed that most cases of blood cancer were diagnosed as acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), adding the latter was more fatal than the former. Dr Riaz said AML normally affects small children who have a family’s history.
He said different organs including heart, liver and kidneys could be damaged in case of delay of treatment, adding the affected organs were being treated first before start of chemotherapy.
Dr Riaz advised parents to bring their children to nearest hospitals and specialist oncologists in case of constant fever, discharge of bleeding from nose and mouth or any other part of the body, loss of weight, pain and change of skin colour. He said blood count tests and bone-marrow biopsy and genetic tests were necessary for diagnoses.
He said cooperation of families was imperative to bring their patients to normal life and make them useful citizens of the society. The senior oncologist recommended blood screening tests before marriages and birth of children for early diagnosis and treatment.
