Trends in Childhood Cancer Mortality: A Closer Look at Disparities

Nicholas Alexander on December 4, 2023

In the ever-evolving landscape of childhood cancer mortality within the United States, a recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shed light on the dynamic shifts over the past two decades. While an overall positive trajectory in reducing the death rate is evident, an in-depth examination reveals disparities among various demographic groups, underscoring the need for targeted interventions.

Declining Rates, Unequal Progress:

The report brings to the forefront a notable 24% decrease in the overall childhood cancer death rate, marking a decline from 2.8 in 2001 to 2.1 per 100,000 children under 20 in 2021. However, this positive trend is not uniformly experienced across all ethnicities and age groups, emphasizing the nuanced nature of the progress.

Ethnic Disparities Unveiled:

The initial period between 2001 and 2011 witnessed Black, White, and Hispanic children benefiting from parallel reductions in cancer death rates, with no significant differences among them. However, the subsequent decade unfolds a concerning pattern. While White children continued to experience decreasing mortality rates, Black and Hispanic children faced a 20% higher cancer death rate in 2021 compared to their White counterparts, marking a disturbing divergence that demands targeted intervention and analysis.

Age-Specific Patterns:

A closer examination of age-specific trends reveals a shifting landscape. The significant decline in childhood cancer mortality observed from 2001 to 2011 was not uniformly sustained across all age groups. Notably, the progress continued predominantly among children under 10 in the subsequent decade, highlighting a nuanced pattern that necessitates a thoughtful and tailored approach.

Teens Bucking the Trend:

Despite historical challenges in teen mortality rates, the report brings a glimmer of hope. In 2021, the cancer death rate among teens was 23% lower than in 2001, indicating a positive turn in a demographic that has historically faced higher mortality rates than their younger counterparts. This positive deviation prompts further exploration into the contributing factors and potential avenues for continued improvement.

Changing Faces of Childhood Cancer:

The landscape of childhood cancer causes has experienced a remarkable transformation. Leukemia, once the predominant cause of childhood cancer death in the US, has witnessed a notable reduction, with death rates nearly halved between 2001 and 2021. However, brain cancer has now emerged as the primary contributor to childhood cancer mortality, constituting a quarter of all cancer deaths among those under 20. This shift underscores the dynamic nature of childhood cancer and the importance of adaptive strategies in combating it.

Takeaway:

In conclusion, while there is an overall positive trend in reducing childhood cancer mortality in the US, the disparities uncovered by the CDC report demand a comprehensive and targeted examination. Understanding the divergent patterns among ethnicities and age groups is crucial for developing precise and effective interventions to ensure equitable progress in the ongoing battle against childhood cancer.

Cancer in mice was reduced 90% with battery study

Claire Peterson on September 5, 2023

Cancer — A person’s presence can drain a room’s energy in a number of ways.

A person who is always negative, criticizing, or moaning, for example, may have a bad impact on the attitude and morale of others around them.

Someone who is really apprehensive or stressed out may emanate a tight or unpleasant energy that affects others.

Furthermore, a person who dominates conversations or takes up a lot of physical space in a room may produce discomfort or suffocation for others in the room..

These are only a few examples of how a person’s demeanor or behavior may alter the ambiance in a room, and it is vital to be aware of how our actions influence others around us.

While this may be distressing for people, it is considered a fantastic idea if a battery can do the same for a tumor.

Batteries and tumors

A mouse study discovered that encircling a tumor with a tiny self-charging battery can take oxygen from the cancer cell’s surrounding, enhancing the efficiency of cancer therapy.

In the March 31 issue of Science Advances, researchers reported that mice had small batteries wrapped around their breast cancer tumors.

In two weeks, when combined with cancer therapy, the tumor volume decreased by 90%.

Solid tumors, such as breast cancer, commonly expand, growing faster than the blood supply can keep up with.

Many tumors’ cores may be hypoxic, with lower oxygen levels than the surrounding tissue, due to growth.

Hypoxia

Yongyao Xia, a materials scientist at Fudan University in Shanghai who specializes in battery materials, said:

“Hypoxia is a double-edged sword.”

Low oxygen levels in tumors indicate that the body’s immune cells are unable to survive long enough to eliminate the malignant cells.

Furthermore, Fan Zhang, a biomedical materials researcher at Fudan University, noted that hypoxic cells resist radiation and traditional chemotherapies due to insufficient blood flow to provide a deadly dose.

Xia and Zhang assert in a new study:

“On the other hand, it provides a target for precision treatment of tumors.”

Prodrugs

Hypoxia may operate as a signaling molecule for compounds known as hypoxia-activated prodrugs.

According to Qin Zhang, a molecular biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, chemotherapeutic drugs are linked to a linking molecule that ensures the treatment is only active in low-oxygen settings.

Clinical trials of hypoxia-activated prodrugs, on the other hand, demonstrated no benefits.

The researchers believe this is because the solid tumors against which they were deployed were either not hypoxic or were not hypoxic enough.

Xia and Fan Zhang sought to find a way to make tumors more hypoxic so that prodrugs had a better chance of functioning.

The batteries

The researchers and their colleagues employed a tiny, flexible battery that could partially wrap around a tumor.

It charges itself with a zinc electrode by drawing oxygen from its environment, resulting in very reactive oxygen pairs that might damage DNA.

However, they are not a viable supply of oxygen for cells.

The tumors in the mice decreased by roughly 26% of their original size two weeks after the battery was implanted.

It may accomplish this by absorbing the vast majority of available oxygen and producing a significant number of reactive oxygen pairs.

Shrinking the tumor

When combined with a hypoxia-activated prodrug, the average tumor size was decreased by 90%.

“I think the concept, the scientific basis, is solid,” said Qin Zhang.

He also remarked that, while the findings are encouraging, they are still in their early stages.

The batteries were only used on mice and only against mouse-specific breast cancer.

“It has to be tested in several breast cancer models and also has to be tested in other cancer models,” Zhang said, referring to humans.

He also claimed that a 90% reduction in tumor size is not the same as a 100% reduction.

“There’s still 10 percent left,” he said.

If the cells survive, it might mean they are resistant to hypoxia, allowing the tumor to develop again.

Zhang added that, like many other therapies, it would need to be combined with others to ensure total tumor eradication.

Xia, Fan Zhang, and his colleagues are thinking about ways to make the battery more flexible and powerful for human-sized tumors, using battery energy to suck air and starve cancer.

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Donald McEachin died from cancer on Monday

Edward Anderson on December 19, 2022

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Donald McEachin, a Democratic Representative from Virginia, was pronounced dead by his office on Monday.

McEachin was 61 when he died.

The announcement

According to Tara Rountree, McEachin’s chief of staff, the Virginia Democrat has battled cancer since 2013.

“Valiantly for years now, we have watched him fight and triumph over the secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013,” said Rountree.

“Tonight, he lost that battle.”

Reelection

Donald McEachin won reelection earlier this month after defeating Republican opposition figure Leon Benjamin.

The Democrat, whose constituency is based in the state capital of Richmond, won 64% of the vote.

Additionally, McEachin was first elected to Congress in 2016 after services in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates.

“We don’t do this for glory or fame,” the Democrat said on election night in early November.

“We do this because we like service.”

Donald McEachin was one of 213 Democrats elected to the next Congress to 220 Republicans.

However, two races are yet to be defined.

Special elections will decide McEachin’s replacement in the heavily Democratic district.

Furthermore, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has not yet set a date for the special election.

Cancer discussion

Donald McEachin opened up about his battle with cancer during a screening of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” two weeks ago.

“I can’t stress to you enough the importance of early detection,” said McEachin.

“I know many of you have watched my journey, and I’ve had a number of health issues.”

Tributes

Aston Donald McEachin was born in Nuremberg, Germany, on October 10, 1961.

McEachin’s father served in the military.

In his adulthood, Donald McEachin was a lawyer who graduated from the University of Virginia Law School.

In addition, he received his Master of Divinity from Virginia Union University.

Many paid their respects as news of Donald McEachin’s death began to spread.

Senator Mark Warner wrote a tribute to McEachin on Twitter, saying:

“Up until the very end, Don McEachin was a fighter. Even though he battled cancer and faced trials in recent years, he never lost focus on social and environmental justice.”

“Tonight, Virginia has lost a great leader and I have lost a great friend.”

Meanwhile, Senator Tim Kaine reminisced about his connection to McEachin.

“I met Donald McEachin in 1985 and we became fast friends,” he wrote in a statement.

“He was a gentle giant, a compassionate champion for underdogs, a climate warrior, a Christian example, an understanding dad, a proud husband, a loyal brother.”

McEachin’s congressional colleague from Virginia, Gerry Connolly, joined the tribute, describing him as “a noble friend, husband and father.”

“There was no better ally to have,” said Connolly. “I will miss him terribly.”

Reference:

Virginia Rep. Donald McEachin dies at 61

Battling Cancer with the Help of Milk Tyson and ‘Fighting All Monsters’

danielruiz on September 22, 2020

Cancer has continued to prevent thousands of children from living an ordinary life that they could genuinely hope for. True enough, nothing is more unfortunate than being afflicted with a disease that affects the lives of those directly affected by cancer and the family that surrounds the individual. It is in these moments where a family’s support system is needed now more than ever.

Recognizing the importance of fortification in a cancer patient’s journey, Milk Tyson took it upon himself to expand the meaning of support beyond the boundaries of familial bonds. Clothed with a zeal of improving the lives of those who are affected by the disease, Milk formed Fighting All Monsters – a charitable institution where people can express their moral support in the form of physical resources that help those who are suffering to cope with the stresses that come with overcoming cancer.

Fighting All Monsters, otherwise known as FAM, is a nonprofit organization that seeks to aid Cancer patients and their families by reducing the struggles that they face surrounding the disease. Through their unconventional methods, FAM helps its beneficiaries by providing various resources, financially and in other means, that could help these sickly individuals go through treatment and subsequently conquer cancer.

With its immeasurable commitment towards providing a quality support system for children affected with Cancer, FAM has proven worthy of its great image around the world. Apart from its fundraising capabilities, FAM boasts of colors that exude altruism beyond its ordinary definition. They have sent iPads to children undergoing treatment for their enjoyment, maintained families’ homes and dues, and provided innumerable means of transportation for Cancer patients to and fro their treatment facilities. FAM has also introduced programs to help other members of the family cope with the struggles.

To Milk, the personal difficulties faced by the families are often overlooked because of the overarching need to attend to the directly affected family member. That is why, when Milk created the organization, he endeavored to shape the same that found a balance between the personal needs of the family and that of the patient. Built with a vision of striking symmetry in helping others, FAM has successfully catered to the needs of both without sacrificing the quality of their assistance.

Since its foundation, FAM has helped thousands of people in meaningful ways. Their organization offers a less traditional way of helping its beneficiaries. Instead of being just a fundraising figure, FAM takes pride in their lifelong commitment with their beneficiaries to ensure countless encounters of assistance to a cancer patient’s journey to wellness. This is in line with their mission of providing quality and unwavering support as key to individuals’ pursuit of eradicating the disease.

As the head of FAM, Milk relentlessly heeds the call of those who need help. When he met a cancer survivor through Justin Bieber, he was moved by his story; so much that he packed his bags and began traveling across the country. Meeting and talking to people from all walks through his trips only fueled Milk Tyson’s passion to help others. With FAM helping different families across the globe, Milk hopes to inspire more individuals and organizations to follow suit.

To know more about FAM, you may visit their website.