What is cancer?
Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells. This may take place in any organ and push the other normal parts of the body. A mass is usually felt and this grows usually indifinetly and tehn may become ulcerated or infected. If this mass grows in an internal organ like the liver or the kidney, it will go unnoticed until it grows significantly. Alternatively, cancer cells in blood and bone marrow may grow taking space for other normal cells that make white blood cells that protect us from infection and platelets that make blood clot.

How common is pediatric cancer?
Cancer is rare in children. Every year 130-140 children per million children , or around 1 out of 500 children are diagnosed with cancer.

Is cancer more common in children in Jordan?
We don’t believe so. The jordanian population has a rather large young population (more young people than old). So we may see more children with cancer due to the large number of children in the population. At KHCC, statistics on childhood cancers are similar to what is present worldwide.

Do all children with cancer die?
Not at all. Actually, most children with cancer are cured nowadays. We strive at KHCC to provide all treatment options to cure as many patients as we can causing as little harm as possible.

How do I know if my child has cancer?
This is not easy. Remember, cancer is very rare in children. If your child has unusual symptoms, like having fever for long time (more than 2 weeks), if she loses significant weight with no explanation, if an unusual skin rash or a mass is felt, your pediatrician may suspect cancer and will do the necessary tests.

How do children develop cancer?
Scientists believe it is more than one factor. Often, a gene that is lost or abnormally structured develops in some cells. This may be inherited from parents who may or may not have been diagnosed with cancer before. Or it may have developed during pregnancy or after birth. Another event like an infection, exposure to some unknown factors in the environment eventually triggers this gene so the cancer cells go out of control.

Is cancer contagious to other children in school or at home?
No it is not.

Are siblings of a child with cancer at risk of having cancer?
Generally speaking: no. Some types of cancer have hereditary causes like eye tumors in children (retinoblastoma). These are inherited from one of the parents in some families and affect both eyes in young infants. In this particular condition, the chance of having another child with retinoblastoma is high. This does not apply to most cases of childhood cancer.

What are the most common cancers in children?
The most common cancers in children are leukemias (blood cancer), Brain tumors, lymphoma (cancer affecting mainly lymph nodes) and solid tumors: including kidney (wilms’ tumor) adrenal (neuroblastoma) liver (hepatoblastoma), bones (Osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma) and eyes (retinoblastoma).

Should I tell my child if he has cancer?
We believe that honesty with children is very critical to gain their trust. Children take things well and will feel relaxed if their families are handling things well.

Can children receive chemotherapy?
Yes of course. Actually children bodies are healthier than adults. Very few children have kidney problems, hypertension, diabetes and heart problems. They usually tolerate chemotherapy better than adults.