About this Research Topic
Acute leukemias are the most common types of cancer in children, and represent a leading cause of death in developed countries and emerging economies. During the past five decades, dramatic progress has been made in the development of curative therapy for pediatric malignancies. Long-term survival into adulthood is the expectation for more than 80% of children with access to these contemporary therapies.
Even if a high percentage of these conditions can be cured, the treatment is not yet 100% safe and may cause adverse long-term health-related outcomes, referred to as late effects. In addition, studies in pediatric patients, who have been well characterized regarding clinical status and treatment exposures, showed that psychological status also has an impact on children’s health and affect both patients and their families.
Another aspect that should be considered is that treatment success and survival rates for leukemic patients are not evenly distributed between different ethnic and racial groups. To make matters worse, it has been observed that the incidence has been increasing in several parts of the world.
Preventing this disease is one of the greatest challenges that humankind faces nowadays, because until today the exact cause of the disease is not known, but it is thought to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Most cases of leukemia are not believed to be hereditary, but certain genetic mutations and conditions can be passed along to offspring that increase the chances of developing leukemia.
In this Research Topic, we would like to collect manuscripts that:
- Explore the risk factors and causes of the disease in children at a global level
- Suggest preventive measures, based on a precautionary principle, that could be implemented to reduce pediatric leukemia’s incidence and ways to achieve that
- Compare the costs of care and treatment approaches, as well as discrepancies in incidence and survival worldwide
- Evaluate the emotional and social aspects that the disease causes to pediatric patients and their parents/environment
- Highlight the great need for governments to take action and design strategies to prevent and fight the disease
Even if a high percentage of these conditions can be cured, the treatment is not yet 100% safe and may cause adverse long-term health-related outcomes, referred to as late effects. In addition, studies in pediatric patients, who have been well characterized regarding clinical status and treatment exposures, showed that psychological status also has an impact on children’s health and affect both patients and their families.
Another aspect that should be considered is that treatment success and survival rates for leukemic patients are not evenly distributed between different ethnic and racial groups. To make matters worse, it has been observed that the incidence has been increasing in several parts of the world.
Preventing this disease is one of the greatest challenges that humankind faces nowadays, because until today the exact cause of the disease is not known, but it is thought to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Most cases of leukemia are not believed to be hereditary, but certain genetic mutations and conditions can be passed along to offspring that increase the chances of developing leukemia.
In this Research Topic, we would like to collect manuscripts that:
- Explore the risk factors and causes of the disease in children at a global level
- Suggest preventive measures, based on a precautionary principle, that could be implemented to reduce pediatric leukemia’s incidence and ways to achieve that
- Compare the costs of care and treatment approaches, as well as discrepancies in incidence and survival worldwide
- Evaluate the emotional and social aspects that the disease causes to pediatric patients and their parents/environment
- Highlight the great need for governments to take action and design strategies to prevent and fight the disease
Keywords: leukemia, children, etiology, epidemiology, childhood cancer, prevention and control, causality
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
