Take action against childhood cancer and join us

Childhood cancer is caused by a disruption in the normal mechanisms of cell reproduction, growth, and differentiation in the body. It can occur in any part of the body.

The causes of childhood cancer, also known as developmental cancer, are unknown. The vast majority of pediatric cancers are not genetically inherited but appear during development.

Cancers can be blood-related or solid tumors. The most common types in childhood and adolescence are leukemia, brain tumors, lymphomas, sarcomas, neuroblastomas, and retinoblastomas.

Survival rates for childhood cancer have greatly improved in recent decades thanks to advances in treatment. Generally speaking, around 80% of children with cancer are cured — that is, 4 out of 5. This means they are cured long-term and the tumor does not reappear throughout their lives. However, some will face adulthood with side effects resulting from the treatments.

The treatments applied when a pediatric cancer is diagnosed are internationally established and are the same or similar across Europe and the United States. Depending on the diagnosis, the progression of the disease, and the individual response of each child or adolescent, specific protocols are defined to determine the type of treatment, which may involve a combination of therapies or just one. Although new treatments are constantly being studied, the most common ones so far are surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and transplants.

There are increasingly more experimental and promising therapies, with the possibility of participating in studies of new drugs (clinical trials) that prolong life and ensure better quality of life.

Repercussions on the family unit:

• The relationship with the reference hospital and healthcare staff, so that the child feels it is a safe environment.
• Painful tests and treatments with side effects.
• Changes in the family’s economy due to having to leave jobs to take care of the children.
• Reorganization of daily family dynamics, such as the possibility of changing accommodation for medical treatments.
• Changes in intrafamily relationships, as the sick child becomes the center of attention.
• The child’s understanding of the illness.
• Social distancing.

Repercussions at school level:

The illness, hospitalizations, medical procedures received by children and adolescents, school absences, and ultimately the entire period involved in an oncological illness — usually about a year — has physical, social, and emotional repercussions that must be understood and monitored, as various needs will arise throughout the process.

Repercussions on siblings:

• Concern for the sick sibling and for the parents.
• Feelings of vulnerability, loneliness, or even abandonment, as they may temporarily lose the experience of the family unit.
• Jealousy.
• Anger.
• Separation anxiety.
• Behavioral and conduct changes.
• Feelings of guilt.
• Anxiety about death.

AFANOC carries out its work in Barcelona, Lleida, Tarragona, and Girona, with a presence in the reference hospitals: Sant Joan de Déu and Vall Hebron. They have built La Casa dels Xuklis, a residence for families who must travel far from their homes to receive treatment at Barcelona’s reference hospitals.

AFANOC is a non-profit, secular association that works from a solidarity-based perspective, guided by values such as justice and social commitment, responsibility, quality management, and the provision of free services to all children and adolescents with cancer and their families.

AFANOC’s mission is to ensure that the emotional and educational development of children and adolescents with cancer is appropriate.

Therefore, our mission is to carry out any action aimed at improving their quality of life, as well as to contribute to a better understanding of these diseases and their treatments.

Hospitals fulfill a crucial medical role, but in long-term illnesses, psychosocial health is essential. And that is AFANOC’s reason for being.

• It’s a taboo subject.
• There are misconceptions and false beliefs.
• There is a lot of misinformation.
• It can stir up emotions, and we may not know how to welcome the feelings that arise.
• It can overwhelm us.

• To understand the different stages one is going through.
• To comprehend the various emotional states of the whole family.
• To learn how to manage side effects or long-term consequences.
• To seek appropriate help.