Initial understanding of solid tumors in children

Children are childlike and innocent, the expectation of their parents and the future of the country. If a child has a disease, parents are very distressed and anxious. When it comes to tumors, many people think that only adults can have them. However, it is not known that children can also suffer from tumors, and many of them are malignant. In the United States, malignant tumor is the first cause of death among all pediatric patients (except accidental death). In China, according to the survey in Shanghai, malignant tumor takes the 3rd place among all causes of pediatric illness and death. There are about 300 million children in China’s 1.3 billion population, and based on the incidence rate of 12/100,000, about 40,000 children are diagnosed with malignant tumors every year, of which about 20,000 are solid tumors. The common tumors in childhood are hematologic tumors and solid tumors, and the following are some of the main solid tumors in children. Pediatric solid tumors are classified into benign and malignant according to pathological types. Benign tumors refer to tumors with benign pathology, in situ growth, no distant metastasis, and generally not life-threatening. Common benign tumors in children include calcified epithelial tumors, dermatomatous cysts, lipomas, hemangiomas, lymphangioleiomas, and mature teratomas. The main goal of treatment is to improve appearance and function and to resolve psychological problems (special benign tumors with tumor-like masses that may be life-threatening, especially in acute cases, are treated differently). The general treatment is surgical excision. Some tumors are not suitable for surgical resection, but can be destroyed and disappeared with destructive therapies, such as injection of sclerosing agents, cryotherapy, laser treatment, etc. The most common calcified epithelial tumors are located under the body’s epidermis, and the common locations are neck, back of shoulder, and limbs. The surface skin color of the mass is normal or slightly dark, the boundary is clear but irregular, hard, without redness, swelling and pain, slowly increasing in size, and the treatment is elective surgical excision. In case of combined infection, redness, swelling, heat and pain, and pus flow, anti-inflammatory treatment is required, and then elective surgery is performed in three to six months after the inflammation is relieved. Malignant tumors are characterized by abnormal differentiation and growth of cells. Tumors can occur in all organs and tissues of human body, and they can occur in all ages and periods. Malignant tumors are tumors whose pathology is malignant, grow faster, can have distant metastasis and can be life-threatening. The common ones are nephroblastoma (Wilms tumor), neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, hepatoblastoma, and endodermal sinus tumor (yolk sac tumor). Most pediatric tumors are unfamiliar and asymptomatic, so it is difficult to draw parents’ attention to them. Therefore, late diagnosis and treatment are difficult. The detection of solid tumors mainly depends on palpation. Newborns and small infants have soft muscles and thin subcutaneous tissues, so it is not difficult to detect tumors on the body surface by systematically touching all parts of the body when bathing and changing diapers every day; especially before breastfeeding, it is customary to touch the stomach, and early abdominal tumors can often be found. The most common examination is ultrasound, which does not cause any damage or radiation to children and can check the location and composition of the masses, especially those in the abdomen, pelvis and retroperitoneum. Children can routinely have an abdominal ultrasound for their annual checkup, and many early tumors can be detected and treated early. During the melamine milk powder incident, extensive screening abdominal ultrasound was performed, and many malignant tumors were detected early, such as nephroblastoma and neuroblastoma, which were mostly stage I and II when discovered, and early treatment could significantly improve the prognosis. Long-term tumor-free survival is the goal of pediatric solid tumor treatment, so surgical resection is the fundamental treatment. Surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the basic means of treating pediatric malignant solid tumors at present. Although great progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors, the etiology of tumors has not been fully elucidated so far. Although the etiology of tumor is very complicated, it is no more than two types of internal and external causes. The external causes refer to the environmental factors in which the body is located, including agricultural production and various harmful substances in daily life. Internal factors are the state of the body itself, such as genetics, immunity, hormones, nutrition and metabolism. We hope that all children can grow up healthily. Parents and society should give more love and care to children who unfortunately suffer from malignant tumors. There are many children with malignant tumors that, if detected early and treated actively, can recover completely. They can grow, study and work normally, become a healthy person and have their own happy life.