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Other cancers · free patient guide
Childhood cancer
Cancers in children and adolescents
Paediatric tumour board · Coming soon
What it is
Childhood cancers include leukaemias, lymphomas, brain tumours, and tumours specific to childhood such as neuroblastoma, Wilms tumour and retinoblastoma.
Any suspected childhood cancer is a same-day escalation here, not a scheduled referral. All treatment delivery routes to a designated paediatric oncology unit under a named transfer arrangement.
Childhood cancers are different diseases from adult cancers, not smaller versions of them. They are treated at designated paediatric units, and outcomes depend heavily on getting to one quickly.
Warning signs worth acting on
- An unexplained lump or swelling anywhere
- Persistent unexplained fever, or persistent paleness and tiredness
- Unexplained bruising or bleeding
- Bone or joint pain, particularly waking the child at night
- Persistent headache with early-morning vomiting
- A white reflection in the pupil in a photograph, instead of red-eye
- A change in the way a child walks, sees or behaves
- Unexplained weight loss or a swollen abdomen
How it is diagnosed
- Assessment by a paediatrician with urgent escalation
- Blood counts and imaging as indicated
- Biopsy and specialist paediatric pathology
- Referral to a designated paediatric oncology unit for definitive diagnosis and treatment
Molecular classification is central to many childhood cancers and is arranged as part of the referral rather than after it.
Is it inherited?
A higher proportion of childhood cancers has a genetic component than adult cancers. Genetic counselling is offered routinely, and cascade testing follows where a variant is found.
Genetic counselling & family risk →
Prevention & early detection
No screening exists for most childhood cancers. What matters is that persistent unexplained symptoms in a child are escalated rather than watched.
Treatment options
What may form part of a plan
Which of these apply to you depends on your stage, your pathology, your other health and what you want from treatment. That decision belongs at a tumour board, not on a website.
Surgery
Operability assessment and planning here; the operation at the appropriate partner centre.
Chemotherapy
Drug treatment that acts on rapidly dividing cells throughout the body.
Radiotherapy
Targeted radiation to a defined area, planned in millimetres.
Stem cell & bone marrow transplant
High-dose treatment followed by restoration of the blood-forming system.
CAR-T cell therapy
Your own immune cells, collected, re-engineered and returned.
Targeted therapy
Medicines matched to a specific alteration found in your tumour.
Clinical trials
Most Indian patients never learn a trial exists, because nobody is looking.
At KPCIRC
The pathway for this disease
- Same-day escalation for any suspected childhood malignancy
- Age-appropriate consent and assent, involving the child as well as the parents
- Family counselling and schooling support
- A separate paediatric tumour board with paediatric-specific membership
- Long-term survivorship follow-up, childhood cancer survivors need decades of structured care
Support that matters most here
Take this with you
Questions to ask your own doctor
These work wherever you are treated. Print the page or take a photograph of this list.
- Which paediatric unit will treat my child, and how quickly can we get there?
- What support exists for schooling and for siblings?
- Should fertility preservation be discussed before treatment?
- What follow-up will be needed in adulthood?
This page is not an emergency service. Severe breathlessness, chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, a high fever during chemotherapy, or a sudden change in alertness means going to your nearest emergency department now, not reading further.