Children and Cancer
- Children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. have a 90% survival rate.
- Childhood cancer research typically receives only 4% of cancer research funds.
- September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and the fight continues to find treatments that will keep 100% of children diagnosed with cancer safe as survivors.
It's a devastating stat when you think of anyone not making it, but kids not making is particularly hard to swallow. 10% is too many to lose.
Read More50 Years of Progress
It’s important to note that there have been phenomenal breakthroughs made over the last five decades. 50 years ago, children faced a 10% survival rate when diagnosed with cancer. And while the survival rates have increased exponentially, the number of new diagnoses annually has not decreased since 2000. Childhood cancer research typically receives only 4% of cancer research funds. And over half of the children who survive cancer typically suffer effects later in life, such as infertility, secondary cancers, and even heart failure.The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) has highlighted ways in which immunotherapy treatments are advancing to help children with cancer. In 2019, the CRI was awarded a grant for pre-clinical work on glioblastoma for children, as well as adults. The three-year review of patient data will help to inform immunotherapy protocols, and it could lead to unlocking further effective treatment options for the disease in children.
What does this all mean for parents and children facing a cancer diagnosis? It means that people are emboldened to drive that survival rate percentage even higher.
Common Cancers in Children
The most common types of cancers that develop in children, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), include:
- Tumors on the brain and spinal cord
- Leukemia
- Neuroblastoma
- Wilms tumor
- Lymphoma
- Rhabdomyosarcoma
- Retinoblastoma
- Bone cancer
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and the fight continues to find treatments that will keep 100% of children diagnosed with cancer counted safe as survivors. Doctors and nurses at some the country's biggest pediatric cancer hospitals in the U.S., like St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, work tirelessly alongside parents to fight for young people's survival.
Empowered Parents Take Action
Thanks to brave moms and dads everywhere, like the parents of 12-year-old Oliver Strong, who died of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), progress is being made to combat some of these diseases' causes.
Strong's parents created Oliver Forever Strong, a foundation that promotes the need to identify causes of pediatric cancer and raise funds for research.
Along with researchers at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, the organization works to identify causes of childhood cancer in their landmark ongoing study, "The Reasons Why Us."
Environmental Factors May Lead to Cancer in Children
The most common cancers children are diagnosed with include leukemia, brain tumors, and lymphoma. And these cancers may be caused by environmental factors like pesticide exposure, herbicides, ionizing radiation, the chemical benzene, solvents and paints, and more.
These factors can be combatted in tandem with research for treatments. Hope is on the horizon for children with cancer, as the fight for more funding, medical insight, and a higher survivor rate continues.
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