Fighting child cancer(2)

Missed detection and misdiagnosis

Xia Zhidong, the father of a 2-year-old boy who like Niu Niu has been diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, said he was initially told by doctors at a Beijing hospital that his son was suffering from an intestinal obstruction.

"I took my son to see five different doctors, but none of them were able to give the correct diagnosis," said Xia. As time passed without a correct diagnosis being made, Xia's son's condition worsened.

"My son is now in intensive care, with a serious infection and his belly swollen," said Xia. "It wasn't until a specialist group consultation that the correct diagnosis was made."

Wang said that misdiagnosis of childhood cancer patients was common in China.

"Not only do most parents never consider that their child might have cancer, most hospitals without child oncology departments make the same mistake during diagnosis. It does not occur to a lot of doctors that a child might have a tumor," said Wang.

One of the other factors that contributed to poor early detection rates of childhood cancers, said Wang, was the fact that young children lacked the linguistic competency to explain their symptoms. Consequently, it was only when the symptoms had become severe, during the late period of cancer, that it would be correctly diagnosed.

"The misdiagnosis delays treatment," said Wang. "Even worse, if a doctor prescribes the wrong treatment at an early stage of the tumor, it can lead to a much lower efficacy rate [when the right treatment is prescribed]."

In the Dahe Daily report, some doctors suggested that mandatory screening procedures for childhood cancer be implemented in Chinese hospitals.

"In Japan, children under the age of one have to undergo a compulsory medical examination for malignant tumors," said Liu Wei, director of the child oncology department at the Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou, Henan Province.

"Most tumors can be detected during pregnancy, and an early checkup after the child is born means that any cancer can be discovered at the earliest possible moment, which raises the likelihood of [effective treatment]."

In the absence of mandatory screening, Yan Jie, director of the child oncology department at Henan Cancer Hospital, advised parents to be vigilant in the same report.

"If your child has a fever lasting more than one week and his or her lymph nodes are swollen, or if his or her growth abruptly slows down or he or she starts shedding weight, you should take your child to the hospital for examination," said Yan. "When bathing or massaging the child, caretakers can also pay attention to whether there are unknown lumps on the child's stomach and limbs."

The cost of treatment

Even if childhood cancer is detected earlier and it is treatable, one of the biggest hurdles facing parents who want to see their child cured is the cost of treatment.

"[I read about] a 1-year-old girl from a poor family in the rural area in Hunan Province who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma [a common childhood cancer]," said Jin.

"The family was told that treatment may cost more than 500,000 yuan ($80,694.61), which they couldn't afford."

In the Dahe Daily report, Yan said that such cases were not uncommon, which was all the more heartbreaking in light of the fact that, in most cases, early treatment could extend the child's life.

"Generally speaking, about two-thirds of children with cancer can be treated," said Yan. "[In some cases], the cancer will go into complete remission, and they will be able to live a normal life."

Jin was told by doctors that the efficacy rate of treatment on her daughter's illness was 70 percent. To pay for the cost of treatment, Jin and her husband have decided to sell their house in Beijing.

"Since we are busy with our daughter's disease, my parents, who are both over 70, have just finished helping us go through the paperwork to sell our house," said Jin.

"We have no other choice. The doctor said there's hope that my daughter can be cured, so our family will spare no effort to save her life," Jin said.