General Information

• Cancer is the #1 disease related killer of children under the age of 14 years next to accidents.

Incidence:

• Currently, one in every 330 children in the United States develops cancer before the age of nineteen. The incidence of cancer among children is increasing. Each school day, enough children are diagnosed with childhood cancer to empty two classrooms! (*NCCF)

Survival Rate:

• Depends on the type of cancer and the development upon diagnosis. (The number of children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. each year puts more potential years of life at risk than any single type of adult cancer). The ACS estimates that approx. 2,300 children will die from cancer in the year 2000.

Causes:

• Largely unknown. Currently, there are no established guidelines for childhood cancer prevention.

Description:

• Childhood cancers are mostly those of the white blood cells (leukemia's), brain, bone, the lymphatic system and tumors of the muscles, kidneys and nervous system. Each of these behaves differently. Cancers in very young children are highly aggressive and behave unlike malignant disease seen at other times of life. The median age for childhood cancer is six. Children frequently have a more advanced stage of cancer when they are first diagnosed. 80% of children show that cancer has spread to distant sites in the body when the disease is first diagnosed.

Current Treatment Options:

• A child with cancer must be diagnosed precisely and treated by clinical and laboratory scientists who have expertise in the management of children with cancer. Advances in treatment have been made in some childhood cancers; however, many cancer types offer very aggressive treatments with lower survival rates. Many treatments include; several rounds of chemotherapy, tumor removal, radiation therapy, bone-marrow-transplantation and various clinical procedures.