Breakthrough as five children are declared cancer free

Parents and well wishers join children, who were declared cancer free, to cut cake. PHOTO BY EMMANUEL AINEBYOONA

What you need to know:

  • Diagnosed with cancer of the kidney at the age of three, Shawn Ogulong, now eight years is free of cancer. Ogulong had his kidney removed after it was discovered it had a tumour.
  • Childhood cancer is the second leading cause of death (following accidents) in children ages 5-14.

If you are one of those who doubt that cancer can be cured, this just might point you in the right direction. Henry Kibule, 14, is one of the children who walked home cancer free after undergoing cancer treatment at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI).
Kibule was diagnosed with lymph node cancer around his neck in March 2016 and finished his treatment in September 2016.
His father, Ephraim Kalumba, a fisherman and resident of Kalangala District said. At first, he was told by people in his community that his child had been bewitched.
However, he says after sometime he took his son to Kalangala Health Centre IV, where a doctor told him that his son could be suffering from cancer and referred him to UCI headquartered on Mulago Hill.

“I knew cancer was not curable but later I was told that cancer can be treated and cured, so I decided to take my child to the cancer institute,” Kalumba shared.
He is certainly happy that he followed the doctor’s advice. “I am very happy that my child no longer has cancer in his body and I thank the doctors who worked hard to ensure he is cured,” he added.
“He now eats very well and he has returned to school after almost a whole year of treatment,” Kalumba said, adding that his son no longer complains of a pain.

About the children
Kibule and four other children were awarded with certificates of bravery by the Director of UCI, Dr Jackson Orem at a ceremony held to commemorate International Childhood Cancer Day last week.
The children include: Jordan Oloya, Jackline Nante, Henry Kibule Kibule, Majorine Kirabo and Emma Mushemba. Other two children were also declared cancer free but didn’t receive certificates as they were still being reviewed.
Nante, 12, received a certificate after three years of treating Leukemia.
One by one, the children walked on the red carpet rolled down into the corridor of the children’s ward at the new cancer building.
Together with their parents, each child walked into the ward to ring a bell hung on the wall, a symbol that indicates a successful fight against cancer.

At the event, Dr Orem said about 90 per cent of childhood cancers are curable.
He added that the five children who received certificates are a testimony that cancer is not caused by witchcraft, a myth held by many communities in Uganda.
“We have 90 per cent of the children diagnosed with cancer going home,” Dr Orem said as he called upon government and civil society to increase their efforts towards the fight against cancer.
He said after completing treatment, the patients are followed up for a period of five years before being declared cancer free.
“We follow up the children for five years. If there is nothing, then they are declared cancer free,” Dr Orem said.
He added: “We need to rally society because there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding cancer.”
He also lauded Uganda Child Cancer Foundation and the Uganda Cancer Society for sensitising Ugandans about the need to screen for cancer early.

Prevalence
Dr Joseph Lubega, a paediatric Oncologist at UCI said about 500 new childhood cancer cases are diagnosed every year but he added that about 1,000 children are currently on treatment.
Last year, UCI registered a total number of 4,000 news cancer patients, including both children and adult patients. A total of 40,000 cancer patients visited UCI during 2016 for treatment.
In a week, Dr Lubega said five new childhood cancer cases are registered at the cancer institute, something he says provides a wide pool for doctors to get experience as they treat cancer.
“The children who walked on the red carpet had lymph node cancer, muscle cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia,” Dr Lubega said.
He revealed that majority of the child cancers are treated using chemotherapy although some of them underwent surgery to have some tumours removed.

The aftermath
Due to chemotherapy which Dr Lubega says is a heavier dose compared to the one used on adults, the children had lost their hair.
However, Dr Lubega said since the children have completely healed, they will regain their hair.
He added that treatment depends on a specific type of cancer but he said parents are the most important component in having their child to get cured of cancer.
“Sometimes the children miss the dose of their treatment if their parents are not consistent in bringing them for review,” Dr Lubega said.
Diagnosed with cancer of the kidney at the age of three, Shawn Ogulong, now eight years is free of cancer. Ogulong had his kidney removed after it was discovered it had a tumour.
“At first we were treating bacterial infections, but Shawn was not getting any better until 2013, when a physician diagnosed him and said he had a tumour in his kidney,” his mother Eunice Achola said.

She added that a biopsy done at UCI confirmed the tumour was cancerous, after which he was put on chemotherapy.
“He underwent surgery in 2014 and had the affected kidney removed. Six months later, he was declared cancer free and now we do constant reviews,” Achola said.
Ogulong is now a pupil in Primary three at Hillside Nursery and Primary School, Naalya.
His mother, who joined in at the commemoration of the International Childhood Cancer Day celebrations at UCI, called upon parents to always keep hopeful and strong, as they seek early medical care for their children.

Experience
Doctor’s notes
Dr Lubega said one of the children was born with jerm cells which grow abnormally compared to other cells and they had to ensure they are eliminated after detecting them. These usually affect the ovaries in women and testes in men.
Dr Lubega said some of the jerm cells become cancerous with their ability to grow very fast.

Childhood cancer facts

Every year, 300,000 families around the world will hear, “Your child has cancer.”
The average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is six.
But you don’t have to be a child to be diagnosed with childhood cancer. Childhood cancer is diagnosed in all ages, from newborn infants to children and 80 per cent of children diagnosed with cancer are in developing countries.
Childhood cancer is a global problem, and one institution cannot solve it alone.
The most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
and 80 per cent will have severe or life-threatening conditions.
Childhood cancer is the second leading cause of death (following accidents) in children ages 5-14.
There are over a dozen types of childhood cancer and hundred of different subtypes.