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AnnieWold
Dr.Crespo
Health,Happiness,andHumanRights
2February2016
LiteratureReviewBrainCancerinChildren
Braincancerisnotaleadingtypeofcancer,butitismostcommoninchildrenandmakesup
15%ofchildhoodcancers,andtheprevalencecontinuestogrow.Astudyconductedbetween
1974and1991foundasignificantincreaseincasesofchildrenwithcancereachyearthestudy
wasdone(Gurneyetal.1996).Treatmentforthisdiseaseinchildrenandadultsisdifferentdue
totheharsheffectofmanycancertreatmentsonthebody(NationalCancerInstitute,2015).Risk
factors,treatments,andpsychologicalimplicationsofcancerareimportantaspectsthatrequired
indepthanalysisandresearch.Gainingabetterunderstandingofthecomplexdiseasewillenable
betterfuturestobeprovidedforthosewhodevelopbraincancer.

Becausebraincancerismostcommoninchildren,numerousstudieshavebeenconducted
relatingtovariouspotentialriskfactors.OnesuchstudydonebyDavis,Brownson,Garcia,
Bentz,&Turner(1993)examinestherelationshipbetweenfamilyuseofpesticidesandthe
childrendevelopingbraintumors.Thiscasecontrolstudyinvolvedtelephoneinterviewswith
fortyfivemothersofchildrenwhohaddiedfrombraincancerregardinganyherbicides,flea
collarsforpets,orhouseholdpesticidesthathadbeenusedwhiletheirchildwasdeveloping.The
conclusionofthisstudyfoundnosignificantcorrelationbetweenthetwofactors,thougha
secondsimilarstudyfounddifferentresults.Datawascollectedinthecasecontrolstudyonthe

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occupationsoffatherswhosechildrenhadbraincancer.Althoughitisdifficulttodetermine
causation,therewasasignificantcorrelationfoundbetweenpaternaloccupationandcancer
development,especiallywithanincreaseamongfatherswhoworkedinagricultureandmetal
(Wilkins&Koutras,1988).Thissuggestsenvironmentalagentspresentduringfetaland
childhooddevelopmentmayincreasetheriskofbraincancerinchildren.

Oneriskfactorthegeneralpublicworriesaboutthemostinregardstobraincanceristhe
harmfuleffectsofcellphoneuse.Acasecontrolstudywasdonetotestthehypothesisthatthe
useofhandheldcellulardevicesinlinkedtothedevelopmentofbraincancer.Subjectsfromfive
medicalcentersintheUnitedKingdomweregivenquestionnairesabouttheirdiseaseandtime
spentusingpersonaltechnology.Nosignificantrelationshipwasfoundthoughitwasconcluded
thatmoretestingwouldneedtobecompleted(Muscatetal.,2000).Anotherstudyconductedby
Morganetal.(2000),whichwassponsoredbyMotorola,foundsimilarresults.Inacohortstudy
ofnearly200,000Motorolaemployees,nosignificantincreaseincasesofnervoussystemor
leukemiawerefound.Evenpeoplewhoworkedforacellularcompanyandwereexposedto
higherlevelsofradiofrequencythanthepublicdidnotshowelevatedratesofcancer.More
recentstudiesareneededtocompensateforthesignificantincreaseincellphoneuseinthe
2000s.

Althoughitisimportanttoknowtheriskfactorsofcancer,researchregardingtreatmentiseven
morecrucial.Studiescontinuetobedonetofindthebestwaytotreatcancerpatients.Astudy
conductedbySwerdlowetal.(2000)on180childrenwithbraintumorsfoundtheuseofgrowth

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hormonesintreatmenthadnoeffect,positiveornegative,ontumorgrowthandrecurrence,
thoughitwasconcludedthatmorelongtermresearchwouldbenecessarytobesure.Radiation
andchemotherapyaremostcommonforcancertreatmentbuttheyarehardontheinternal
organsasasideeffect.Thiscanbeparticularlyharmfulforchildren,especiallyradiation.A
studydoneonthetopicfounddelayingpostoperativeradiationtherapyinchildrenundertheage
ofthreetobebeneficialfortheirlongtermhealth.Therewasasignificantreductionin
neurotoxicity,anditwasfoundthatbyusingonlychemotherapy,theuseofradiationcouldbe
delayedforoverayearafteroperation(Duffneretal.,1993).AnotherstudydonebyPackeretal.
(1989)onchemoradiationtherapy(CRT)inchildrenwithbraincancerexaminedtherelationship
betweenthetreatmentandlossincognitiveabilities.Eighteenchildrenwithmalignantbrain
tumorsweretreatedwithCRTwhileacontrolgroupoffourteenchildreninsimilarconditions
werenot.TheyweregivenseveralIQtestspostsurgery,afterradiation,andoneandtwoyears
aftertreatment.Thetestgroupshowedstatisticallysignificantdeclinesinintelligenceand
cognition,andwentontohavedifficultieslearninginschool.Theresearchwasconcludedwith
theneedtofindnewtreatmentforchildrenwithbraincancer.Asbraincancerismostcommonly
foundinchildren,safetreatmentisanecessity.

Havingcancernotonlyaffectsthebody,butittakesatollonthemindaswell.Anassessment
donebyTaphoornetal.(2010)translatedapreexistingtestforcancerpatientsregardingtheir
psychologicalwellbeingtotwelveotherlanguagesbesidestheoriginalEnglishinorderto
determinethevalidityofthetest.Usingtwoexperimentalgroupsandacontrolgroup,itwas
concludedthatpsychometrics(atechniqueforpsychologicalmeasurement)arevalidfortesting

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cancerpatients.MoreresearchwasconductedbyZebracketal.(2004)regardingthe
psychologicalstatesofchildhoodbraincancersurvivorsandtheirfamilies.1100survivorsand
3000siblingsofsurvivorswereaskedforinformationontheirmentalhealth,demographic
positions,andgeneralhealth.Theconclusionofthestudystatedthereasonforincreasedstressin
thetestsubjectswasnotduetotheillnessandtreatmentitself,butthedecreasedabilityto
socializeandfunctionnormallyindailylives.

Despitethenumerousstudiesthathavebeenconductedregardingtreatment,wellbeingof
patients,andrisksforbraincancer,therearestillquestionsleftunanswered.Evenmoreresearch,
time,andcommitmentisrequiredtodeterminecausation,validateriskfactors,anddevelopsafe
treatmentsforchildren.Thisisimportantnotonlyforthepatientsthemselves,butfortheir
familiesandtheknowledgeofthegeneralpublic.Withoutdedicationtoresearch,scientific
advancementisimpossible.

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WorksCited
Davis,J.R.,Brownson,R.C.,Garcia,R.,Bentz,B.J.,Turner,A.(1993).Familypesticideuse
andchildhoodbraincancer.
ArchivesofEnvironmentalContaminationandToxicology,
24(1).
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http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01061094
Duffner,P.K.,Horowitz,M.E.,Krischer,J.P.,Friedman,H.S.,Burger,P.C.,Cohen,M.E.,..
.Kun,L.E.(1993).Postoperativechemotherapyanddelayedradiationinchildrenless
thanthreeyearsofagewithmalignantbraintumors.
NewEnglandJournalofMedicine,
328(24).
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http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199306173282401
Gurney,J.G.,Davis,S.,Severson,R.K.,Fang,J.Y.,Robinson,L.L.,Ross,J.A.(1996)Trends
incancerincidenceamongchildrenintheU.S.Cancer.
AmericanCancerSociety.
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https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Gurney/publication/227790253_Trends_in_c
ancer_incidence_among_children_in_the_U.S/links/548ef5140cf2d1800d861c71.pdf
Morgan,R.W.,Kelsh,M.A.,Zhao,K.,Exuzides,K.A.,Heringer,S.,Negrete,W.(2000).
RadiofrequencyExposureandmortalityfromcancerofthebrainand
lymphatic/hematopoieticsystems.
Epidemiology,11(2).
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http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2000/03000/Radiofrequency_Exposure_and_Mo
rtality_from_Cancer.7.aspx
Muscat,J.E.,Malkin,M.G.,Thompson,S.,Shore,R.E,Stellman,S.D.,McRee,D.,...
Wynder,E.L.(2000).Handheldcellulartelephoneuseandtheriskofbraincancer.
The

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JournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation,284(23).
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http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=193377
NationalCancerInstitute.(2015).Braincancerpatientversion.
NationalInstituteofHealth.
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http://www.cancer.gov/types/brain
Packer,R.J.,Sutton,L.N.,Atkins,T.E.,Radcliffe,J.,Bunin,G.R.,DAngio,G.,...Schut,L.
(1989).Aprospectivestudyofcognitivefunctioninchildrenreceivingwholebrain
radiotherapyandchemotherapy:2yearresults.
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Swerdlow,A.J.,Reddingius,R.E.,Higgins,C.D.,Spoudeas,H.A.,Phipps,K.,Qiao,Z.,...
Shalet,S.M.(2000).Growthhormonetreatmentofchildrenwithbraintumorsandriskof
tumorrecurrence.
JournalofClinicalEndocrinology&Metabolism,85(12).
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Taphoorn,M.J.B.,Claassens,L.,Aaronson,N.K.,Coens,C.,Mauer,M.,Osoba,D.,...
Bottomley,A.(2010).AninternationalvalidationstudyoftheEORTCbraincancer
module(EORTCQLQBN20)forassessinghealthrelatedqualityoflifeandsymptoms
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EuropeanJournalofCancer,46(6).
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Wilkins,J.R.&Koutras,R.A.(1988).Paternaloccupationandbraincancerinoffspring.
AmericanJournalofIndustrialMedicine,14(3).
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http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajim.4700140308/abstract

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Zebrack,B.J.,Gurney,J.G.,Oeffinger,K.,Whitton,J.,Packer,R.J.,Mertens,A.,...Zeltzer,
L.K.(2004).Psychologicaloutcomesinlongtermsurvivorsofchildhoodbraincancer:
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