Four-year-old Sven* sits on his mother’s lap with a wide smile on his face, his bright blue eyes shining. Sven’s parents are relieved. The cancer that attacked his young body has gone. Sven is now considered to be cured. A small scar under his collar-bone is the only thing that still reminds his mother of the awful time that the whole family has been through.
Two years ago the little boy developed recurring fever and generally seemed to be ill more often than expected, so his parents took him to the paediatrician. Some tests were carried out, and they were shocked to receive a diagnosis of leukaemia. Sven had a form of blood cancer.
As a child with Down syndrome Sven’s risk of developing myeloid leukaemia is 150 times higher than that of children his age. This is a form of leukaemia in which an increased number of immature and defective white blood cells are formed in the bone marrow and blood, and these displace normal blood cells. The prognosis for this disease is better, meaning that Sven is better able to combat the leukaemia, but his Down syndrome means that his is more sensitive to the medication that he is given to treat his leukaemia.
His parents are still worried about the long-term side effects that the therapy is having on his body.
Luckily everything worked out well for Sven, but it is sadly not uncommon for children with Down syndrome to die while being treated for cancer. In order to prevent this, the Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group SPOG is giving affected children access to a study that is seeking to improve the treatment of children with Down syndrome who have myeloid leukaemia.
The ML-DS 2018 study aims to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, some of which can be severe, without impairing the good results achieved with the therapy. A special medication has been developed which is designed to have a more direct action and, as a result, do less damage to the healthy cells in Sven’s body.
Sven’s story illustrates the moving fate of many children and adolescents battling cancer. It is only thanks to the major progress being made in clinical research into childhood cancer that a growing number of children like Sven can overcome their leukaemia. Support the clinical research into childhood cancer carried out by SPOG now to ensure the future of studies to improve the quality of life of these children and adolescents.
Help to give a future to children and adolescents with cancer.
* Sven is an imaginary person who represents all children and adolescents battling cancer.
