Health & Medicine
Breast And Colorectal Cancer Rare But More Aggressive In Children
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Oct 30, 2014 12:16 PM EDT
For children, the occurrence of breast and colorectal cancers are rare. However, when they do occur, they're more likely to be aggressive and harder to treat, according to recent findings that will be presented this week at the 2014 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
Researchers examined several years of patient medical records (1998 to 2011) and entered them into the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) of the American College of Surgeons and American Cancer Society. Of the 2,636,722 breast cancer patients, only about 574 were age 21 or younger.
"The thought that kids even face these diseases is surprising," said Morgan K. Richards, MD, research fellow in the division of general surgery at Seattle Children's Hospital, in a news release."But that's why it's important to study such diseases. Although rare, they are not impossible to find in children. We need to better understand how these cancers present and progress so we know how to recognize them clinically and so we can counsel patients and their families."
Though both breast and colorectal cancers are known more as adult conditions, with 95 percent of new cases occurring in women 40 and older according to the American Cancer Society, researchers note that bringing awareness to this unusual health issue surfacing in children helps bring about proper diagnosis and early treatment.
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First Posted: Oct 30, 2014 12:16 PM EDT
For children, the occurrence of breast and colorectal cancers are rare. However, when they do occur, they're more likely to be aggressive and harder to treat, according to recent findings that will be presented this week at the 2014 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
Researchers examined several years of patient medical records (1998 to 2011) and entered them into the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) of the American College of Surgeons and American Cancer Society. Of the 2,636,722 breast cancer patients, only about 574 were age 21 or younger.
"The thought that kids even face these diseases is surprising," said Morgan K. Richards, MD, research fellow in the division of general surgery at Seattle Children's Hospital, in a news release."But that's why it's important to study such diseases. Although rare, they are not impossible to find in children. We need to better understand how these cancers present and progress so we know how to recognize them clinically and so we can counsel patients and their families."
Though both breast and colorectal cancers are known more as adult conditions, with 95 percent of new cases occurring in women 40 and older according to the American Cancer Society, researchers note that bringing awareness to this unusual health issue surfacing in children helps bring about proper diagnosis and early treatment.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone