Cancer in children most often forms in the parts of
their bodies that are still growing and changing...
...such as their blood system, brain, and kidneys. Over the years, much progress has been made in cutting edge research, leading to medically sound treatment protocols for childhood cancer. For instance, childhood leukemia, once almost certainly fatal, now has a 70% survival rate. But the battle is far from over – cancer continues to afflict more children under 18 years of age than any other disease.
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Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children between the ages of 1 and 19
- Every year more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer around the world.
- Cancer is the second most common cause of death, after accidents, among children in developed countries.
- 80% of children with cancer are in resource-constrained countries where access to information, early detection and effective treatment and care is often poor.
- More than one in two of these children diagnosed with cancer will die due to lack of resources.
- Two-thirds of cancer-related deaths occur in countries where resources available for cancer control are limited or nonexistent.
- Childhood cancers represent an important global public health problem.
- Access to proper medical care would save tens of thousands of children worldwide annually.
People living in poverty are at greater risk of dying from cancer
A new study looking at the survival and stages of cancer has found that people living in poor neighborhoods have a greater risk of dying after cancer than people with higher socioeconomic status.
“These patients are generally diagnosed later than others, and were less likely to get state-of-the-art cancer care,” said Tim Byers, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and deputy director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. “Being poor increases your chance of dying from cancer.”
(Source: University of Colorado Denver)
In the United States
- Leukemia accounts for about 32.7% of childhood cancer cases
- Brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers including cancers of the spinal cord count for 20.7%
Most common types of cancer in children 14 and under are:
Leukemia
- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
Brain and central nervous system (CNS)
- Astrocytoma
- Brain Stem Glioma
- High Grade Glioma
- Central Nervous System
- Craniopharyngioma
- Desmoplastic Infantile Ganglioglioma
- Ependymoma
- Medulloblastoma
Neuroblastoma a cancer of immature nerve cells frequently arising in the adrenal glands, which are located on top of the kidneys and are part of the body’s endocrine (hormonal) system
Wilms tumor a cancer of the kidney
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma cancers that begin in the lymph system
Rhabdomyosarcoma a type of cancer that begins in the striated muscle, which are the skeletal voluntary muscles that people can control
Retinoblastoma a cancer of the eye
Osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma cancers that begin in the bone
Germ cell tumors a rare cancer that begins in the special cells that become the testicles in men and ovaries in women
Pleuropulmonary blastoma a rare lung cancer that begins in the chest
