India among the countries most affected by cancer in children – Lancet study

New Delhi: India, along with China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the United States, is the world's first study of the burden of cancer-related morbidity among children and adolescents, among the countries Counting the largest number of children, in 195 countries in 2017, was published Monday in the journal The Lancet Oncology.

While the number of new cancer cases among children and adolescents (aged 0 to 19) is relatively low: around 416,500 worldwide in 2017, it is estimated that health problems, disabilities and fatal cancers are causing about 11.5 million years of healthy life. lost globally every year, according to the study.

While four of the five countries most affected by childhood cancer were in Asia and Oceania (India, China, Pakistan and Indonesia), the United States had the sixth-highest burden in 2017 and Africa Sub-Saharan, the heaviest burden of DALY cancer types in children than any other region, according to the study.

The study estimates the annual number of childhood cancers to more than 11.5 million years of healthy life lost in 2017. This compares to about 37 million years of healthy life. lost worldwide due to malaria and 7.6 million people with TB. In 2017, childhood cancer was among the top four contributors to the burden of general childhood illness in medium- and high-medium SID countries, ranking higher than malaria and HIV / AIDS.

Children with cancer living in high-income countries generally have good survival, about 80% of them surviving five years after diagnosis. But these improvements have not translated into most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where survival is around 35 to 40 percent, but some estimates suggest that this could be 20 percent. The study points out that nearly 90% of children at risk of developing cancer live in low-income and middle-income countries.

Children in the poorest countries face a disproportionate burden of cancer – accounting for over 82% of the global burden of childhood cancer – equivalent to nearly 9.5 million years of healthy life lost in 2017. The bulk (97%) of this global burden is linked to premature death, with about 3% due to an alteration in the quality of life, the study pointed out.

The study estimates the number of years of healthy life lost by children and teens with cancer due to illness, disability, and premature death – a measure known as the D & D. Years of life corrected for disability (DALY). A DALY equals a year of healthy life lost. However, disability among childhood cancer survivors was limited to the first 10 years after diagnosis of cancer, not to life as a whole; the global burden of DALYs badociated with childhood cancer is therefore probably underestimated, researchers said.

"By badessing the global burden of childhood cancer in terms of disability-adjusted life years, we can understand in more detail the devastating impact of cancer on children around the world," he said. said Lisa Force, of St Jude Children's Hospital & Research Hospital in the United States. research in collaboration with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The results of the study showed that high and medium-median IDS accounted for about 35% (147,300) of new childhood cancer cases in 2017, but only 18% of DALYs (approximately 2 million years of healthy life lost), while low-medium IDS countries with 38% of the global incidence (159,600 new cases) accounted for 60% of DALYs (nearly 7 million years of healthy life lost).

This study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Syrian Lebanese-Syrian American Charter (ALSAC) and the St. Baldrick Foundation. It was led by researchers from the St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and from the University of Washington, Seattle, in the United States. Washington State, United States.