Wednesday, February 15th, we commemorate the international childhood cancer day. A disease that more than 80% of children beat and in which we’ve advanced spectacularly in the last decades as shown by the data in the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumours (RETI)
The Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumours (RETI for its acronym in Spanish) is a scientific project developed since 1980 by the University of Valencia in collaboration with the Spanish Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (SEHOP for its acronym in Spanish), located in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the UV and its goal is to produce information to improve the care of children with cancer in Spain.
According to the latest data of the RETI-SEHOP, the survival rates of childhood cancer have improved spectacularly in the last decades, but every year more than 1.100 children under 15 years old are diagnosed with cancer in Spain. According to this data, 82 for every 100 children with cancer are cured. Nonetheless, despite this spectacular progress, it is still the number one cause of death by disease at these ages.
The RETI-SEHOP’s goal is to reach two aspects: the scientific aspect and the social aspect. First of all, on a scientific level it offers information to improve the care of children with cancer in Spain, based on the analysis of the survival rates, its evolution and differences with other European countries to evaluate the assistance progress. It also analyses the incidence and, in collaboration with the Institute of Health Carlos III, the possible causes of childhood cancer. On the other hand, the social aspect consists in raising awareness and spreading information to society; and in the interaction with different associations, institutions and foundations related to the disease. The RETI will attend the Event of the International Day of Childhood Cancer, organized by the Spanish Federation of Parents of Children with Cancer in Madrid this February 15th.
The RETI-SEHOP, with a coverage of the 97%, is the referent of childhood cancer in Spain and it participates in the principal European and international projects (EUROCARE, ACCIS, CONCORD, BENCHISTA…), focused on the evaluation of the assistance results, which contribute to the organization decisions of each country. Along with the advances in the recovery of childhood cancer, the widening collective of survivors, presents a new assistance challenge due to the possible after-effects they imply.
