More Cancer Deaths amongst children in developing countries

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has called for strategic partnerships between institutions from developed and underdeveloped countries to help improve upon the treatment of children with cancer even in areas of the world that have limited resources.

According to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the emergence of cancer as a major cause of death among children in developing regions of the world is not being adequately addressed by national or international health organizations and charities.

This growing rate of pediatric cancer is occurring as the number of children dying from infectious diseases is being reduced through the efforts of the World Health Organization and international charities, the researchers say.

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Now Inhaled Cancer Drug Option...

Pediatric cancer specialists at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) are investigating a new type of inhalation chemotherapy with the potential to treat children with a deadly bone cancer that has spread to their lungs.

In the phase 2 study, children use a nebulizer to inhale cisplatin, a standard cancer drug that has been specially encapsulated in protective fatty protein bubbles. Because it is inhaled rather than administered systemically, the drug can penetrate deep into the lungs and come into direct contact with the metastasized bone cancer cells, known as osteosarcoma cells. Children receive this treatment in a special inhalation tent that contains purified air. CHAM is the only pediatric hospital using cisplatin inhalation therapy for osteosarcoma.

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