The main goal of its holding is to raise the level of awareness among pediatricians and the entire medical community about the complex problem of oncological diseases among children. Cancer in the structure of child mortality (5.7%) ranks fifth after injuries and poisonings (27.1%), certain conditions that occur in the perinatal period (25.6%), congenital anomalies, deformities and chromosomal disorders (13.8 %), diseases of the nervous system (8.4%)
In Russia, a little more than 3 thousand people under 18 fall ill every year, which corresponds to about 12-13 people per hundred thousand of the child population. Pediatric oncopathology accounts for only 1% of malignant tumors in adults. Survival from malignant neoplasms of children is due to the biological characteristics of the tumor, the condition of the child and, in some cases, depends on the spread of the tumor process.
Among the largest Russian centers of children’s oncology is NMIC DGOI named after Dmitry Rogachev, Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital (Moscow), Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Russian Cancer Research Center named after N.N. Blokhin (Moscow), N.N. Petrov (St. Petersburg), Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Transplantology named after R.M. Gorbacheva of the First St. Petersburg State Medical University (St. Petersburg), Rostov Cancer Research Institute (Rostov-on-Don).
Currently, in the Kursk Oncological Research and Clinical Center named after G.E. Ostroverkhov, more than 240 children under 18 years of age are observed. The spectrum of pediatric tumors in the Kursk region is traditional: tumors of the central nervous system, tumors of the kidneys, tumors of the sympathetic nervous system, bone and soft tissue sarcomas, germ cell tumors, etc.
“The high statistical rates of cancer in our region are not so much the number of real cases of the disease, but the result of early detection, well-coordinated work of pediatricians of all levels,” comments the chief non-staff specialist, pediatric oncologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor Galina Vasilievna Kudentsova. – In 2021, 42 children with cancer were identified in the Kursk region. Half of them had malignant neoplasms of hematopoietic and lymphatic tissue. Among them, five are in the prenatal period, that is, even before birth. Now all these children are successfully undergoing treatment, including in clinics in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other specialized healthcare institutions. Telemedicine contacts have been established with the best pediatric oncologists in the country.
– Regular preventive examinations play a huge role in the detection of malignant tumors, – GV Kudentsova is sure. – Competent actions of pediatricians, a well-developed patient’s chart are very important. A child with suspected cancer should get to specialists as soon as possible. In our practice, there are many successful cases of victory over the disease. I still communicate with people who suffered from malignant tumors in childhood. They are worthy members of society. Many of them have families, raise children, work. Using the modern possibilities of medicine, it can be stated with 100% certainty that most children have a high chance of recovery.