September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and a time to celebrate the lives of children battling childhood cancer.
It also is a time to raise awareness about the immense impact of this disease.
Each year in the U.S. there are approximately 13,400 children between birth and 19-years-old who are diagnosed with cancer.
About one in 300 boys and one in 333 girls will develop cancer before their 20th birthday.
Dr. Jerry Finklestein comes on the show to raise awareness and to give us perspective on what a child with cancer goes through.
Selected Podcast
Spread Hope, Go Gold this September for National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Featured Speaker:
Organization: Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach
Dr. Jerry Finklestein, MD
Dr. Jerry Finklestein completed his pediatric training at the Montreal Children's Hospital and his Hematology-Oncology training at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). In 1976, he created the Hematology-Oncology service at Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach and became the founding medical director of the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center. He headed the center for more than 17 years.Organization: Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach
Transcription:
Spread Hope, Go Gold this September for National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Deborah Howell (Host): Hello there, and welcome to the show. You're listening to Weekly Dose of Wellness. It's brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. I'm Deborah Howell, and today's guest is Dr. Jerry Finklestein. Dr. Finklestein completed his pediatric training at the Montreal Children's Hospital and his hematology-oncology training at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. In 1976, he created the Hematology-Oncology Service at Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach and became the founding medical director of the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center. He headed the center for more than 17 years, and he's our special guest today. Welcome to you, Dr. Finklestein.
Dr.Jerry Finklestein (Guest): Thank you very much.
Deborah: Today we're going to be talking about National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, among other things. In a nutshell, what is childhood cancer, and how is it different from adult cancer?
Dr. Finklestein: Well, childhood cancer is, first of all, cancer, which means it involves the body where there's uncontrollable growth. So this occurs both in children and in adults. However, the difference is as follows. Children have different cancers, for the most part, than adults. Now, they both may have acute leukemia. On the other hand, adults have cancer of the lungs, such as lung cancer caused by smoking; children don't have cancer of the lung. They may have cancer in the lung. Children have tumors of the kidney called Wilms' tumor. If you're over 16 years of age, you're considered to have elderly Wilms'. Adults have a cancer of the kidney. It's called renal cell carcinoma. So the basic uncontrolled growth is the same; the types of cancer and how they respond to treatment is different.
Deborah: Okay. Well, let's get a little perspective on what a child with cancer goes through, and if you could, tell us what the average treatment plan might be for a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Dr. Finklestein: Well, the average treatment in terms of time is approximately two and a half to three years, assuming that everything works out well for the child. But it's more than the child's going through it; it's the whole family going through it.
Deborah: Sure.
Dr. Finklestein: Once you have a child with a serious disease in a family, it affects the entire family. So the child will receive usually just chemotherapy, sometimes additional therapy, may require some surgery, usually minor, to help implant devices that enable them to accept the therapy with ease. But it not only changes the child's lifestyle, it changes the family's lifestyle. The best way to think about this is to climb a mountain. When you climb a mountain, you have curves. There are switchbacks. The switchbacks may involve a change in therapy.
Deborah: Okay.
Dr. Finklestein: The switchbacks may be a change of plan. The switchbacks may be hospitalization. It may be nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation secondary to therapy. It may be temporary hair loss; it may be difficulties in school, because our therapy sometimes affects intellectual development. However, when you climb a mountain, you can get to the top.
Deborah: That's right.
Dr. Finklestein: Most of our children today reach the top where the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the child is cured.
Deborah: That's what we all hope for in our most fervent prayers. So what is the importance of cancer research, doctor?
Dr. Finklestein: The importance of cancer research is really epitomized with the pediatric oncologist.Decades ago, we recognized in our subspecialty that to do the job, we had to collaborate with people throughout the country or perhaps throughout the world. The pediatric oncologists, way back in the '50s, and certainly in the '60s, when I entered the field, started working together in collaborative clinical research. So if you are treated, for example, at Long Beach Memorial Miller Children's Hospital, you will receive the same treatment that if you're treated in a cancer center in Texas or the middle part of the country or the east coast or in Canada. This collaboration has enabled us to improve the survival of childhood cancer from less than 10 percent when I entered the field to somewhere between 85 and 95 percent today in 2013. It has been done with collaborative medical research.
Deborah: So that would be about 30 years?
Dr. Finklestein: No, longer than that.
Deborah: Okay.
Dr. Finklestein: It's roughly 40 years. In the '60s, there was a colleague that called around the country to find out how many children with leukemia were living more than three years. The numbers were in the teens.
Deborah: Wow.
Dr. Finklestein: They stopped calling in the '70s.
Deborah: Remarkable progress. What are some of the accolades that the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center has received?
Dr. Finklestein: Well, we're recognized as the multi-disciplinary approach to childhood cancer, and I referred to that in my earlier comment. When a child has a serious life-threatening disease, it not only involves the child—because you want to make sure they receive the most modern therapy that's available—but involves the siblings, the parents, the grandparents. Everything changes. I'll give you an example. Decades ago, one of my patients was doing very well, but the mother approached me and let me know that her other child was really giving her a tough time.
Deborah: Right.
Dr. Finklestein: The other child was now a teenager. It was about five or six years past the time that the sibling had been diagnosed, and then the other child went to the mother and said, "Where were you when I needed you?" because this could be an overwhelming challenge for a family. We recognize this. We have probably more psychologists and social workers working with us than physicians because we recognize that the psychosocial support that's necessary for this family who are confronting childhood cancer is of paramount importance. So at the very beginning, we concentrated on making sure that this would be a total multidisciplinary approach to a child with serious disease.
Deborah: Well, on behalf of all the families going through this, we thank you. What type of research is Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center currently involved in?
Dr. Finklestein: Most of our research is clinical, and that means clinical studies of either multiple drugs or single drug. We've worked with agencies such as drug companies that may be [unintelligible – 00:07:36]. We also have done some nutritional research. We've also done a fair amount of psychological research, and we're also very interested in what we would call the survivorship challenge. Namely, a child who has done well with cancer, what challenges are they left with for the rest of their life?
Deborah: Sure.
Dr. Finklestein: You can look at the late effects of therapy and some of the other aspects that their body is going to confront because of the very intense therapy that is received to [unintelligible - 00:08:15] disease.
Deborah: Right. It is a lifetime challenge, but luckily, we've had so much experience now with this that you know exactly what the course of treatment and aftercare is.
Dr. Finklestein: Well, we know up to a point. The point being it's very nice for me to say, as I said earlier, the survival rate's in the 85-90 percent range. But that doesn't count until it's 100 percent. That's item one.
Deborah: Right.
Dr. Finklestein: Secondly, I did mention that there are children that are left with residual effects because of our therapy. We have to tailor—and we're doing this—our treatment so our child who is confronting this disease will be cured and not be left with any long-term challenges because of the therapy. So we still have work to do.
Deborah: Maybe you can tell our listeners how they can help raise awareness for childhood cancers and maybe even get involve themselves with the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center.
Dr. Finklestein: Well, first of all we're going to pronounce it Jonathan Jaques. I hate to correct you.
Deborah: I'm so sorry. I see Jaques and I think French. I'm so sorry.
Dr. Finklestein: All right. No problem. Secondly, there are a number of ways to be involved. First of all, this program is helping people become aware. We need a support. We need financial support. Philanthropy is extremely important if the government is not able to do the job, so we need the philanthropists out there to help us. Children do not vote, so they do not necessarily get the money that the adults do for their challenges. We have fundraisers in our units that are very exciting. If you cycle, in May, you could cycle 5 miles, 31, 62, or 100, and we have thousands of people doing what's called the Tour of Long Beach, which raises money for our research. We have other fundraisers which do receive publicity and do help us in terms of supporting our research in our psychosocial program. Just the other day, a gentleman friend had his children baking cookies for childhood cancer.
Deborah: I love it. And I'm going to stop you there, unfortunately, because we're out time. But Dr. Finklestein, it's been magical to have you with us today to talk about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Thank you so much for the good work you do.
Dr. Finklestein: Have a good day.
Deborah: I'm Deborah Howell. Have a fantastic day.
Spread Hope, Go Gold this September for National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Deborah Howell (Host): Hello there, and welcome to the show. You're listening to Weekly Dose of Wellness. It's brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. I'm Deborah Howell, and today's guest is Dr. Jerry Finklestein. Dr. Finklestein completed his pediatric training at the Montreal Children's Hospital and his hematology-oncology training at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. In 1976, he created the Hematology-Oncology Service at Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach and became the founding medical director of the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center. He headed the center for more than 17 years, and he's our special guest today. Welcome to you, Dr. Finklestein.
Dr.Jerry Finklestein (Guest): Thank you very much.
Deborah: Today we're going to be talking about National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, among other things. In a nutshell, what is childhood cancer, and how is it different from adult cancer?
Dr. Finklestein: Well, childhood cancer is, first of all, cancer, which means it involves the body where there's uncontrollable growth. So this occurs both in children and in adults. However, the difference is as follows. Children have different cancers, for the most part, than adults. Now, they both may have acute leukemia. On the other hand, adults have cancer of the lungs, such as lung cancer caused by smoking; children don't have cancer of the lung. They may have cancer in the lung. Children have tumors of the kidney called Wilms' tumor. If you're over 16 years of age, you're considered to have elderly Wilms'. Adults have a cancer of the kidney. It's called renal cell carcinoma. So the basic uncontrolled growth is the same; the types of cancer and how they respond to treatment is different.
Deborah: Okay. Well, let's get a little perspective on what a child with cancer goes through, and if you could, tell us what the average treatment plan might be for a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Dr. Finklestein: Well, the average treatment in terms of time is approximately two and a half to three years, assuming that everything works out well for the child. But it's more than the child's going through it; it's the whole family going through it.
Deborah: Sure.
Dr. Finklestein: Once you have a child with a serious disease in a family, it affects the entire family. So the child will receive usually just chemotherapy, sometimes additional therapy, may require some surgery, usually minor, to help implant devices that enable them to accept the therapy with ease. But it not only changes the child's lifestyle, it changes the family's lifestyle. The best way to think about this is to climb a mountain. When you climb a mountain, you have curves. There are switchbacks. The switchbacks may involve a change in therapy.
Deborah: Okay.
Dr. Finklestein: The switchbacks may be a change of plan. The switchbacks may be hospitalization. It may be nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation secondary to therapy. It may be temporary hair loss; it may be difficulties in school, because our therapy sometimes affects intellectual development. However, when you climb a mountain, you can get to the top.
Deborah: That's right.
Dr. Finklestein: Most of our children today reach the top where the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the child is cured.
Deborah: That's what we all hope for in our most fervent prayers. So what is the importance of cancer research, doctor?
Dr. Finklestein: The importance of cancer research is really epitomized with the pediatric oncologist.Decades ago, we recognized in our subspecialty that to do the job, we had to collaborate with people throughout the country or perhaps throughout the world. The pediatric oncologists, way back in the '50s, and certainly in the '60s, when I entered the field, started working together in collaborative clinical research. So if you are treated, for example, at Long Beach Memorial Miller Children's Hospital, you will receive the same treatment that if you're treated in a cancer center in Texas or the middle part of the country or the east coast or in Canada. This collaboration has enabled us to improve the survival of childhood cancer from less than 10 percent when I entered the field to somewhere between 85 and 95 percent today in 2013. It has been done with collaborative medical research.
Deborah: So that would be about 30 years?
Dr. Finklestein: No, longer than that.
Deborah: Okay.
Dr. Finklestein: It's roughly 40 years. In the '60s, there was a colleague that called around the country to find out how many children with leukemia were living more than three years. The numbers were in the teens.
Deborah: Wow.
Dr. Finklestein: They stopped calling in the '70s.
Deborah: Remarkable progress. What are some of the accolades that the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center has received?
Dr. Finklestein: Well, we're recognized as the multi-disciplinary approach to childhood cancer, and I referred to that in my earlier comment. When a child has a serious life-threatening disease, it not only involves the child—because you want to make sure they receive the most modern therapy that's available—but involves the siblings, the parents, the grandparents. Everything changes. I'll give you an example. Decades ago, one of my patients was doing very well, but the mother approached me and let me know that her other child was really giving her a tough time.
Deborah: Right.
Dr. Finklestein: The other child was now a teenager. It was about five or six years past the time that the sibling had been diagnosed, and then the other child went to the mother and said, "Where were you when I needed you?" because this could be an overwhelming challenge for a family. We recognize this. We have probably more psychologists and social workers working with us than physicians because we recognize that the psychosocial support that's necessary for this family who are confronting childhood cancer is of paramount importance. So at the very beginning, we concentrated on making sure that this would be a total multidisciplinary approach to a child with serious disease.
Deborah: Well, on behalf of all the families going through this, we thank you. What type of research is Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center currently involved in?
Dr. Finklestein: Most of our research is clinical, and that means clinical studies of either multiple drugs or single drug. We've worked with agencies such as drug companies that may be [unintelligible – 00:07:36]. We also have done some nutritional research. We've also done a fair amount of psychological research, and we're also very interested in what we would call the survivorship challenge. Namely, a child who has done well with cancer, what challenges are they left with for the rest of their life?
Deborah: Sure.
Dr. Finklestein: You can look at the late effects of therapy and some of the other aspects that their body is going to confront because of the very intense therapy that is received to [unintelligible - 00:08:15] disease.
Deborah: Right. It is a lifetime challenge, but luckily, we've had so much experience now with this that you know exactly what the course of treatment and aftercare is.
Dr. Finklestein: Well, we know up to a point. The point being it's very nice for me to say, as I said earlier, the survival rate's in the 85-90 percent range. But that doesn't count until it's 100 percent. That's item one.
Deborah: Right.
Dr. Finklestein: Secondly, I did mention that there are children that are left with residual effects because of our therapy. We have to tailor—and we're doing this—our treatment so our child who is confronting this disease will be cured and not be left with any long-term challenges because of the therapy. So we still have work to do.
Deborah: Maybe you can tell our listeners how they can help raise awareness for childhood cancers and maybe even get involve themselves with the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center.
Dr. Finklestein: Well, first of all we're going to pronounce it Jonathan Jaques. I hate to correct you.
Deborah: I'm so sorry. I see Jaques and I think French. I'm so sorry.
Dr. Finklestein: All right. No problem. Secondly, there are a number of ways to be involved. First of all, this program is helping people become aware. We need a support. We need financial support. Philanthropy is extremely important if the government is not able to do the job, so we need the philanthropists out there to help us. Children do not vote, so they do not necessarily get the money that the adults do for their challenges. We have fundraisers in our units that are very exciting. If you cycle, in May, you could cycle 5 miles, 31, 62, or 100, and we have thousands of people doing what's called the Tour of Long Beach, which raises money for our research. We have other fundraisers which do receive publicity and do help us in terms of supporting our research in our psychosocial program. Just the other day, a gentleman friend had his children baking cookies for childhood cancer.
Deborah: I love it. And I'm going to stop you there, unfortunately, because we're out time. But Dr. Finklestein, it's been magical to have you with us today to talk about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Thank you so much for the good work you do.
Dr. Finklestein: Have a good day.
Deborah: I'm Deborah Howell. Have a fantastic day.