About 80 new cases of childhood cancer are registered annually in Armenia. This figure almost never changes from year to year, while the number of adults with cancer is constantly growing, said the Head of the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Chemotherapy of the National Oncology Center, chairman of the Association of Armenian oncologists, MD, Professor Grigor Badalyan at a press conference on February 15.

“10 years ago, about 5,000-6,000 new cancer cases were recorded every year in Armenia,” Mr. Badalyan said. “Today, we have approximately 8,000 new cases annually, and about 80 of them are children. But if the number of all cancer patient increases, the number of children with cancer remains about the same.”

According to professor Badalyan, in 2012, 72 children with malignant tumors were registered in Armenia.

Childhood cancer is different from that of adults’, professor Badalyan explained. Adults often suffer from lung, breast, cervix and skin cancers and gastrointestinal tumors, while among children sarcomatous tumors are more common. In particular, blood cancer also known as leukemia is quite frequent (20-25% of all cases). Lymphoma that affects the lymphatic system is also quite common, seen in about 15-18% of all cases. There are also tumors that affect individual organs - kidneys, bones, liver, brain, soft tissues and eyes.

According to professor Badalyan, retinoblastoma is the only type of inherited tumor. It’s a malignant tumor of eyes, which occurs in children in only 2-4% of all cancer cases. “We have a family in which three from five children have retinoblastoma,” he said.

As for the success rate in the treatment of cancer in children, Professor Grigor Badalyan noted that in Armenia, about 60-65% of children are cured from cancer annually, which is a good figure, since in developed countries 80% children are cured, and in developing countries the success rate is only about 20-25%.

"The tumor may recur in adults in 10 years or later, but in children, if it is not repeated within three years, it is unlikely to repeat in future," he said, adding that some of the children they treated are now healthy. Some of them are going to the army soon, others already have children of their own.

By the way, every year nearly 290,000 new cancer cases are recorded in the world. Besides, every year cancer kills about 90,000 children under 16.