• Specialists warn against wounds being brushed off as sports injuries, headaches being misdiagnosed as migraine  

Medical specialists warned of blood, bone, and brain cancers being frequently diagnosed among children while warning the public against ignoring the common symptoms of cancer.

Specialists warned that late diagnosis of child cancers as well as the reliance on alternative remedies have led to several cancers spreading and posing a risk to children’s lives.

“We see several cancer symptoms, such as the presence of wounds in children, being brushed off as sports injuries,” Paediatric oncologist at the National Cancer Institute/Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama, Dr. Mahendra Somathilaka said at a press conference yesterday (12). 

Dr. Somathilaka also said that while brain cancers in children present with symptoms of persistent headaches that start in the morning and get better towards the end of the day, these cancers are however often misdiagnosed as migraines and are therefore given the wrong form of treatment. 

“Specialist doctors are needed to diagnose these cancers,” Dr. Somathilaka said. “Therefore, we advise the public not to ignore these symptoms.” Dr. Somathilaka advised parents and guardians to look for symptoms such as a low platelet count in the blood, fever, the presence of phlegm and arthritis in children as they could be indicative of childhood cancers. 

He further stated that eye cancers are common amongst children aged three to four years old. “With these children, there will be something that looks like a white glass ball in their eyes,” Dr. Somathilaka said. “If this is noticed, we advise parents to take their children to medical professionals immediately.”

Specialists stated that while cancers such as leukemia – a type of blood cancer – are common in children, Sri Lankan hospitals are well equipped to treat childhood cancers and that the cure rate for childhood cancers remains high. “We don’t have high cure rates like those of developed countries,” Dr. Somathilaka said. “However, when compared to other countries in the region, our cure rates are high.”

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer remains a leading cause of death for both children and adolescents, with only 30% of children in low- and middle-income (LMI) countries being cured. The WHO states that the reason for the low cure rate in LMI countries is a delay in diagnosis as well as incorrect diagnosis and the abandonment of treatment. Therefore, specialists at the Apeksha Hospital recommended that treatment be followed as recommended by a qualified doctor.