Key points:
- Between 10 and 15% of childhood cancers are located in the brain.
- Walking like a duckling or with your legs wide open to find your balance is a symptom to consider.
- The symptoms of malignant intracerebral tumors will depend on the child’s age.
Dr. Roberto Rivera Luna, an ABC Medical Center pediatric oncology specialist, points out that intracerebral tumors, which are inside the head, represent 15% of all childhood cancers. The symptoms of this type of malignant tumors will depend on the patient’s age.
During the first three years of life, they may have drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting; vomiting forcefully in the morning, but this reaction can happen throughout the day.
Children between two and three years old have difficulty or tremble when grabbing cutlery, without being able to put the food in their mouth due to a deviation in the movement.
At the walking stage, they may have difficulty keeping their balance, moving from side to side, or walking with their feet far apart for balance. They can even stop walking, this is one of the most serious or advanced cases, being a very delicate symptom that needs to be addressed promptly.
At school age they could have difficulty seeing, that is, seeing with one eye or the other; they may also suffer from headaches, which prevent them from getting out of bed, and vomiting is also a recurring symptom.
It is a little easier to identify these ailments in adolescents since they can express themselves more clearly. Constant headache is a symptom to consider, as well as difficulties in bending the head, strabismus in one eye, or pressure in the back of one eye resulting in loss of visual acuity.
These are a series of signs and symptoms to consider, says Dr. Rivera. It is necessary to have a team of specialists for the correct identification and evaluation of childhood brain cancer.
At the ABC Medical Center’s Pediatrics Center we can provide you with specialized care.
Fuentes:
Dr. Roberto Rivera Luna – Specialist in pediatric oncology at the ABC Medical Center
https://youtu.be/EwUsjiaOcfQ
