Hero of the Day- Gianna Smith

May 11, 2012

Our tiny love, Gianna has been diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer called Embryonic Botryoid Rhabdomyosarcoma. It is a tumor of the vaginal area near her urethra and bladder. Gia has been diagnosed at stage 3. We have to find the very best treatment to cure our daughter. Gia just turned 22 months old and is a happy, fun loving, bright blue eyed, intelligent, kind, toddler who just loves Elmo and Winnie the Pooh and playing with her big sister and big brother, dog and cat. She has a fierce spirit and has so much to do in her life and I am certain she will do great things to help this world.

Gianna is currently in her 7th month of treatment at Akron Children’s Hospital Showers Clinic for Childhood Cancer. Gianna’s recent scans and surgeries have shown clearing of the RMS from her vaginal region, but she still must go through chemotherapy treatment through November, and possibly longer, of this year.

Along the way, we have met many great families and “Little Heroes” at the 5th floor of Children’s Hospital. Gianna has been a true hero to all of her family and friends during this time as she has battled through all of her chemotherapy and radiation treatments on her fight against Rhabdomyosarcoma.

We continue to hope, pray and look for ways to help Gianna along this battle as she beats this disease.

Astrocytoma Survival Rate

May 18, 2012

When determining survival rate of cancers, oncologists and their teams of cancer doctors will often give their rates based on five year spans of no disease. When dealing with the Astrocytoma survival rate it is necessary to determine which type of this cancer is present in the person. First let’s look at what this cancer is before going further into the patient’s chances of beating this disease.

Astrocytomas are defined as a neoplasm of the brain. While most of these are confined to the brain area, a few may affect the spinal cord of the individual who may have this tumor. When detecting this type of cancer doctors often group these by high grade or low grade depending on the tumor. While high grade tumors tend to grow larger and spread quicker, the majority of Children’s Astrocytoma patients tend to be low grade, which are generally more localized in one location. According to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute there are approximately 700 children that are diagnosed with the more common low grade astrocytomas and that most of these occur in the brain area.

The picture below shows a scan of astrocytoma of the brain

Determining Astrocytoma Survival Rate

When determining the survival of a patient for astrocytoma there are several variables that determine this rate. Size of the tumor, ability of the tumor to be removed and the initial grade that the child starts in all make the survival of the patient sway in either direction. According to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital children with low-grade astrocytomas have about a 90% survival rate after 5 years, while children who have high-grade astrocytomas have about a 40% 5 year survival rate.

While the Astrocytoma survival rate may not currently be very promising for children that have high-grade variety, there are a few positives that one must remember. Promising new protocols are being experimented with drugs such as Tarceva that have shown to work well along with radiation treatment among children. Like all other childhood cancers, oncologists and their teams are working together through groups such as CureSearch to find and share ways to increase 5 year survival for all children’s cancer victims.

Rhabdomyosarcoma in Children

May 17, 2012

Rhabdomyosarcoma in children or “RMS” is the most common for m of soft tissue cancer found in children. Sarcoma cancers or “connective tissues” cancer are most commonly found in parts of the body lacking skeleton such as the head, neck or genital region. While cancers like these are rare for children, consisting of approximately 3% of all childhood cancers, they tend to be most common in children from ages 1-5 and then older children from age 15-19. The exact cause of RMS is unknown but some studies show that certain birth defects or gene mutation may put a child at higher risk of this disease.

Symptoms: The main form of RMS is a mass or tumor at the location of the disease. Depending on the area of the tumor there may or may not be physical signs that lead to finding of the mass. Here are a few of the signs and symptoms associated with each area that RMS may be present.

Genital Area	Visible protruding or trouble urinating
Eye	Bulging of eye, vision problems, swelling around eye
Nose/Throat	Bleeding, congestion, neurological issues, swallowing problems
Brain	Headaches, brain swelling, dizziness
Muscle	Painful lumps that do not go away

Because many of the signs and symptoms of RMS are similar to common injuries and problems to children it is often hard to find early signs of Rhabdomyosarcoma in children. As a parent it is necessary to get your child checked out by an oncologist or doctor who is familiar with cancer if any of the above problems persist, as untrained doctors will often overlook these problems and suggest a different problem with the child.

Types of RMS- There are 2 main types of Rhabdomyosarcoma and a few very rare types

Embryonal RMS (ERMS): By far the most common type of RMS with approximately 3% of all childhood cancers according to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. ERMS are subtyped into 2 categories which are botryoid and spindle cell and tend to occur in the head, neck, bladder, vagina or testicle region of a child.

Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS): Is less common and usually affects older children and teenagers. ARMS tends to occur in larger muscles in the trunk, arms and legs and tends to grow faster than ERMS, thus requiring more intensive chemotherapy and treatment.

Anaplastic Rhabdomyosarcoma: The rarest of the RMS group for children. This type of cancer is only found under lab tests and tends to grow quickly, similar to Alveolar RMS.

This is a quick overview of the Rhabdomyosarcoma in children. For a full detailed report on different treatments, medical terms and prognosis of this disease you can click here.