Doctors alert parents to cancer symptoms in children
Local medical experts are advising parents see a doctor for a detailed check of their children if they spot symptoms such as a lump, swelling or pain in the abdomen, weight loss for no known reason, loss of appetite, or nausea and vomiting.
Doctors at Renji Hospital said they had received three children recently with hepatoblastoma, a cancer that forms in the tissues of the liver, and sought to alert parents to this most common type of childhood cancer.
The exact cause of the cancer is unknown and symptoms in children may not be obvious until a tumor has grown. Fortunately, it can be shrunk by chemotherapy and removed by surgery.
Dr Xia Qiang's team at Renji Hospital saw two boys and one girl with hepatoblastoma. They had been detected the disease after the cancer had affected other organs or major blood vessels.
Doctors at Renji Hospital during surgery.
A 2-year-old boy suffered frequent belly pain in August and it was found that the tumor had covered 80 percent of his liver and had grown to the heart. His parents took him to Renji Hospital, where doctors used chemotherapy to shrink the cancer and then had it surgically removed.
A 7-year-old girl had sudden vomiting and belly pain in September and checks found her cancer had invaded her major vessels. She was transferred to Renji, where doctors operated to remove the cancer while protecting her liver function.
A 7-year-old girl is pictured with medics in Renji Hospital after her successful treatment.
Both children recovered quickly after surgery. They were taken off respiratory machines on the day, started eating again on the second day and were discharged one week later.
A 12-year-old boy's cancer was not detected until it had invaded his entire liver and surgical removal was not possible. Doctors suggested a liver transplant and put him on the waiting list.
The boy received a donated liver recently and the surgery was successful. He is recovering well and will be discharged soon, doctors said.
