Types of Cancer
Leukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and tissues, and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells (mostly white blood cells). Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer. Types of leukemia include: |
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Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL): The most common childhood cancer. Almost 75% of children with leukemia have ALL, a cancer of the lymphoid cells in the bone marrow and the lymphoid organs of the body. They are involved in the body's immune system. Proper management of ALL focuses on control of bone marrow and systemic (whole-body) disease as well as prevention of cancer at other sites, particularly the central nervous system (CNS). |
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Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML): AML (also called acute myeloid leukemia, acute non-lymphatic leukemia or ANLL) is cancer of the myeloid blood cells which are produced in the bone marrow and which help fight bacterial infections. It is most common for adults, but more men than women are affected. Many different chemotherapeutic plans are available for the treatment of AML. Overall, the strategy is to control bone marrow and systemic (whole-body) disease while offering specific treatment for the central nervous system (CNS), if involved. |
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Brain Tumors are any intracranial tumors created by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, normally either found in the brain itself. There are many types of brain tumors; the most common are called gliomas. |
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Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid cancer in infancy and childhood. It is a tumor arising from any neural crest element of the sympathetic nervous system (a nerve network that carries messages from the brain throughout the body). Its solid tumours, which take the form of a lump or mass, commonly begin in one of the adrenal glands, though they can also develop in nerve tissues in the neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis. Close to 50 percent of neuroblastoma cases occur in children younger than two year old. |
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Sarcomas are cancerous tumors involving the bones and soft tissues. Types of sarcomas include: |
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Osteosarcoma: Osteosarcoma is the sixth most prevalent type of cancer in children and the most common type of malignant bone cancer, accounting for 35% of primary bone malignancies. These tumors often are located at the growing end of the long bones of the extremities, close to the joints. Although other types of cancer can eventually spread to parts of the skeleton, osteosarcoma is one of the few that actually begin in bones and sometimes spreads elsewhere. |
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Ewing's Sarcoma: Ewing's Sarcoma is the common name for primitive neuroectodermal tumor. The most common areas in which it occurs are the pevis, femur, humerus, and ribs. Ewing's sarcoma occurs most frequently in male teenagers. It is a rare disease in which cancer cells are found in the bone or in soft tissue. |
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Rhabdomyosarcoma: A type of cancer, specifically of connective tissues, in which the cancer cells are thought to arise from skeletal muscle progenitors. A soft tissue sarcoma that develops in muscles that can also be found attached to muscle tissue, wrapped around intestines, or anywhere, to include the neck area. It is most common in children ages one to five, and teens aged 15 to 19, although quite rare in the latter. |
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Lymphoma is a tumor of the lymph tissues that originates in lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system. Types of lymphoma include: |
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Hodgkin Disease is also referred to as Hodgkin's lymphoma and is characterized by the spread of disease from one lymph node group to another by the development of systemic symptoms with advanced diseases. It affects lymph nodes nearer to the body's surface, such as in the neck, armpit and groin area. |
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Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is a type of cancer that arises from the lymphocytes (a type of white blood cells) and is distinct from Hodgkin Disease. It affects lymph nodes found deep within the body. |
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Liver Cancer is an abnormal growth (tumor) in the liver. Growths on or in the liver can be benign or malignant (cancerous). The most common forms of liver cancer in children are: |
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Hepatoblastoma is an uncommon malignant liver cell growth that occurs in infants and children composed of tissue resembling fetal or mature liver cells or bile ducts. |
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is also referred to hepatoma and is a primary malignancy of the liver. |
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Other Types of Cancers |
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Retinoblastoma is a malignant tumor of the retina (a thin membrane in the back of the eye). Occurrences are mostly in children younger than 5 years and accounts from about 3% of the cancers occurring in children younger than 15 years of age. The tumor may originate in one or both eyes and is usually confined to the eye, but can spread to the brain via the optic nerve. Because the retina is the light-sensitive part of the eye necessary for vision, loss of vision occurs. |
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Wilms tumor is also called nephroblastoma and is a cancer of the kidney. Wilms tumor is an abnormal tissue of the kidneys that typically occurs in children. Approximately 500 cases are diagnosed in the U.S. annually and 75% occurs in otherwise normal children (the other 25% is associated with other developmental abnormalities. |
