One expert pointed out that awareness of symptoms is “the precursor to early diagnosis of cancer,” and warned against indifference to signs that may appear in children.
What is truly worrying is that a review published in the British Medical Journal found that 68% of British teenagers aged 11 to 14 years did not know the most common symptoms of the deadly disease. Another study, which included 478 students between the ages of 11 and 17, found that half of the participants did not know what the most common types of cancer that occur among children, adolescents, and young adults are.
Dr. Sharna Shanmujavadeviliya, co-author of the study, explained that lesser-known symptoms include early or late puberty, delayed growth in infants, and slow growth.
The variety of symptoms often depends on the location of the tumor and where it has spread. This means that there are many different symptoms to detect, including persistent and recurring headaches, difficulty swallowing, and regular vomiting.
Other signs can appear in weight, bowel and urinary habits in young men and women.
Shanmujavadevilya, from the University of Nottingham Medical School, said: “The symptoms of the disease in children often mimic other common diseases, and as screening tests are not currently available, public and professional awareness to ensure early diagnosis and treatment is essential. The rarity of cancer in children represents a major barrier to "Early diagnosis. While the number of cases may be small compared to adult cancers, the cumulative risk from birth through early adulthood is comparable to other childhood diseases."
The list of possible cancer symptoms that can appear in children includes:
- A mass or swelling in the pelvis, testicle, or breast.
- Blood in urine.
- Changes in moles.
- A lump in the chest or armpits.
- Weight loss.
- Pain or mass in the abdomen.
- A mass or swelling in the face, jaw or skull.
- Persistent/recurring headaches.
- Constant/recurring fatigue.
- Anorexia.
- Continuous vomiting.
- Excessive bleeding/bruising/skin rash.
- Seizures.
- Pain in the chest wall or armpits.
- Unexplained swelling/pain in the bones or joints.
- Change in bowel habits: constipation or diarrhea.
- Persistent or recurring abdominal pain.
- Difficulty urinating.
- Vision problems.
- Swollen glands on the side of the neck.
- Difficulty walking or balancing.
- Recurrent and persistent bone pain (worse at night).
- Noticeable paleness of the skin.
- Multiple complications of influenza.
- Unexplained bleeding between menstrual periods.
- Fever and night sweats.
- shortness of breath.
- Difficulty swallowing.
- Weak/wavy leg.
- Unjustified screaming in young children.
- Recurring sore throat.
- Pain in the neck.
- White, white pupils.
- hearing loss.
- Abnormal eye movements.
- Unnatural facial movements.
- Persistent ear pain.
- Inability to open the mouth.
- Slow recovery after bone injury.
- Delayed growth.
- Early or late puberty.
If your child has any of these symptoms, consult your GP.
Discovering rare genetic mutations behind baldness in men
Male pattern baldness is the most common form of hair loss in men, and is largely due to genetic factors.
Current treatment options and risk prediction are still suboptimal, necessitating research into the genetic basis of the condition.
To date, studies worldwide have focused primarily on common genetic variants and have included more than 350 genetic loci, in particular the androgen receptor gene, which is located on the X chromosome and is inherited from the mother.
In contrast, the contribution to this common condition of rare genetic variants has traditionally been assumed to be low. However, there are no systematic analyzes of rare variants.
In a recent study, scientists discovered genes that can cause baldness in men. They found that rare genetic mutations may contribute to hair loss in men.
The team at the University of Bonn in Germany hopes their findings will help identify men at risk and improve treatment.
The team studied the genetic sequences of 72,469 men from the UK Biobank, looking for reasons that might cause receding hair lines or complete hair loss.
Using modern bioinformatics and statistical methods, they found associations between male pattern hair loss and rare genetic variants in the following five genes: EDA2R, WNT10A, HEPH CEPT1 and EIF3F.
Sabrina Henie, lead author of the study and a professor of human genetics from the University of Bonn, said that before the analyses, EDA2R and WNT10A were already considered candidate genes, based on previous analyzes of common variants.
But the new study suggests that the HEPH gene may also play a role. HEPH is located in a genetic region already implicated in common variants, the EDA2R/androgen receptor, a region that has consistently shown the strongest association with male hair loss in previous association studies.
However, "HEPH itself has never been considered a candidate gene," Heaney explained. "Our study suggests that it may also play a role. The genes CEPT1 and EIF3F are located in genomic regions that have not yet been associated with male hair loss. They are therefore completely new candidate genes," Heaney explained. We hypothesize that rare variants within these genes contribute to genetic predisposition. HEPH, CEPT1 and EIF3F represent very plausible new candidate genes, given their previously described role in hair growth. They are therefore entirely new candidate genes, and we hypothesize that rare variants within these genes contribute to predisposition. "HEPH, CEPT1, and EIF3F represent very plausible new candidate genes, given their previously described roles in hair development and growth."