By Lisa Luescher | Project Leader
Thanks to intensive research efforts, children’s chances of recovering from leukemia are good to very good. In our recent report Jean-Pierre Bourquin indicated: "A curing-rate of 80 % sounds excellent, but at the same time, it means that one out of five children will not survive. That is unacceptable." His current research project will make a significant contribution to improving the chances of a cure for children with high-risk leukemias.
Everything we know about the diagnosis and management of childhood cancer is a result of research findings and this leads to an increase in cure rates. So many live longer, are considered cured and manage to return to the life they knew before the disease. At the same time, it is essential that researchers also address the unanswered questions, needs and challenges of all those children who have successfully beaten cancer at a young age: Are they at risk for long-term side effects that are related to their prior treatments?
In Switzerland, around 350 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every year. What is it like to be a childhood cancer survivor? What impact does cancer have later in life, on their social relationships, on their professional careers?
Katharina Roser from the Department of Health Sciences and Medicine at the University of Lucerne and her team are identifying these issues and aim to come up with concrete recommendations that will support medical professionals and other disciplines in the health care and social security systems in their work. With the help of generous donors, like you, the Swiss Cancer Research foundation has been able to fund her project. Katharina Roser states: "Currently, there are few studies on the insurance, legal and financial difficulties that affected individuals and their parents struggle with. We want to change this."
Read more about Katharina’s research and goals that have been set in her latest project, funded by the Swiss Cancer Research foundation and generous donors like you.
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