Warning Signs Of Childhood Cancers

Frequent Infections

A child who is affected by certain types of cancer may present with frequent and persistent infections that do not seem to improve with multiple rounds of treatment. An individual's immune system is made of multiple types of white blood cells that help identify, capture, and eliminate foreign substances and pathogens from the body. When the levels of these white blood cells become low due to some mechanism, the individual's body will be less able to fight off infections. White blood cells are mostly made in bone marrow, the soft spongy tissues housed in the hollow canal of the bones. An individual's thymus gland, spleen, and lymph nodes are also the site of production for some types of white blood cells. Cancer in a child that develops in their bone marrow or blood can cause the rapid and continuous destruction of white blood cells. Cancer that develops in the bone marrow can also hinder the production of new white blood cells, which also causes the child to have a compromised immune system. The child is more vulnerable to frequent infections in such conditions because their body does not have the normal mechanisms needed to defend itself.

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Persistent Nausea

Aa child who presents with abnormal and persistent nausea may be affected by cancer as the underlying cause of their symptoms. One of the most common types of childhood cancer known to produce persistent nausea and frequent vomiting is referred to as neuroblastoma, which is a malignancy of the sympathetic nervous system because the tumor can press on parts of the abdomen, chest, or spinal cord that activate the nausea center in the brain. Another form of cancer that develops in children that may produce nausea and vomiting is referred to as Wilms' tumor. Wilms' tumor describes a malignancy that has developed in the kidney of a child that causes reduced kidney function. When the kidneys are unable to filter toxins from the blood of the affected individual properly, they can experience persistent nausea because their brain is attempting to rid the body of the toxic substance. Certain types of brain cancers in a child can compress the part of the brain that contains the nausea center, which can also cause them to feel like they need to vomit.