Children and Cancer.

 

                                                 Children and  Cancer.

Often sick children or their families ask themselves what they did wrong. Guilt-ridden, they ask themselves what they overlooked to prevent cancer in the first place. However, neither serious basic research nor clinical research provides a definitive answer to the question of why children and adolescents develop cancer. All we know today is:

A healthy cell divides (mitosis), matures to a specific purpose/function (differentiation), ages (senescence) and dies (apoptosis). All this happens exactly when the body needs it. That is, cells work according to their internal clock - this property is inherent in nature and helps to preserve health.

Malfunction of the cell's internal clock mechanism, its cell cycle [cell cycle], for example, if cells begin to grow out of control, differentiation and aging of cells, or if they are insufficient, cancer occurs. If there is no natural death of the cell.

Causes of failure in the regulation of the cell cycle, which can cause the cell to break down, are hereditary defects and changes (mutations) in various genes. These genes regulate the internal mechanism of the cell (transcription factors, oncogenes, tumor suppressor gene), thanks to them, interaction between cells becomes possible (receptor genes), they also repair their own genetic material in case of its breakdown (recovery genes).

There are rare birth defects in genes, as well as hereditary and acquired mutations that increase the risk of developing cancer in early childhood (congenital cancer syndrome). But cancer itself is not a hereditary disease.

Certain external influences can influence the spontaneous occurrence of a mutation, such as ultraviolet rays‎ or X-rays‎, certain chemicals, poisons, or certain infections [infection]. But the fact that children and adolescents get cancer, they do not play a major role. They are believed to have some effect during pregnancy.

There is some evidence that, unlike adults, children and adolescents often have a predisposition to cancer even before birth. This means that changes in certain cells of the body have already occurred in the embryo.