Paediatric oncology and haematology in Poland: position paper

Abstract

Paediatric oncology is a discipline of rare diseases, defined by incidence lower than five cases per 10,000 people. Around 1160 new cases of childhood malignancies are diagnosed every year in Poland (2016Poland ( -2017. The incidence rate is about 151 children per 1 million paediatric population a year. It is calculated that one out of 6600 children develops malignancy during one calendar year. Children with oncological diseases are treated in

Molecular Markers of Pediatric Solid Tumors—Diagnosis, Optimizing Treatments, and Determining Susceptibility: Current State and Future Directions

“…It accounts for 3% of all childhood tumors. The number of cases ranges from 1 in 14,000–1 in 18,000 live births [ 3 , 81 ]. The following forms of retinoblastoma are distinguished as: bilateral or multifocal (25–30% of cases, hereditary form), unilateral or unifocal (70–75% of cases, sporadic form), trilateral form, in which the presence of bilateral disease is accompanied by an embryonic intracranial tumor (pineoblastoma) localized in the midline (4%—only in children with the hereditary form of the disease).…”

“…Solid tumors account for approximately 60% of all childhood malignancies. Their broad spectrum includes [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]: Central nervous system (CNS) tumors (~20–23% *), Neuroblastoma (8–10% *), Wilms tumors, (7–8% *), Malignant bone tumors, (osteosarcoma and Ewing tumor) (~7% *), Soft tissue sarcomas (~7% *), Germ cell tumors (3–6% *), Hepatoblastoma, rarely hepatocarcinoma (0.5–2% *), Retinoblastoma (2.5–3% *), Other malignant epithelial neoplasms and malignant melanomas Other and unspecified carcinomas. …”

Changing risk factors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: experience from Kujawsko-Pomorski region 1976–2018

“…Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy and represents more than 20% of all malignancies in patients aged 0-18 years. Each year, c.200-220 children are diagnosed with ALL in Poland [1]. Therapy outcomes have improved significantly over recent decades -the probability of five-year overall survival has increased from 31% in 1975 to c.85% with current therapy protocols [2,3].…”

The function of adrenal glands in children and adolescents during and after oncological treatment

“…In the same period, the improvement in 5-year survival for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) increased from 63% to 90% [ 1 ]. In Central Europe, event free survival after 5 years in children 0-18 years old with ALL in 1982 was 38%, then improved to 79% in 2002–2011 and 90% in 2012 [ 2 ]. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, widely used as the first- and second line treatments of various onco-logical diseases, kill uncontrolled growing cells, but also have negative effect on healthy cells which may lead to many side effects including endocrine dysfunction.…”