Paediatric Cancers

In the United Kingdom (UK), approximately 1 in 500 children develops a cancer, equating to 1600 newly diagnosed children annually. Treatments vary depending on the type of cancer diagnosed, staging and cytogenetics. As in adults, treatment usually comprises one or more of the following: chemotherapy, radiotherapy (including proton beam), surgery, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplant (allogeneic, autologous or chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell therapy). The degree of nutritional risk for a child with cancer is associated with their diagnosis. Clinical assessment should include the child's diagnosis, stage of disease and current position within their treatment protocol. Faltering growth is diagnosed as in any other paediatric condition, and children often require nutritional support in various forms to prevent faltering growth during treatment. It is estimated that without nutritional intervention upto 50% of children treated for cancer are likely to become undernourished.