Childhood Cancer Facts

Did you Know?

• All types of childhood cancer combined receive less than 4% of the United States  federal funding for cancer research.
• In the last 20 years, the FDA has approved only two pediatric cancer drugs that were initially studied in children. Clolar and Erwinaze.
• The causes of most pediatric cancers remain a mystery and cannot be prevented.
• One out of every 300 males and one out of every 333 females in America will develop cancer before their 20th birthday.
• Childhood cancer survivors are at significant risk for secondary cancers later in life.
• More than 40,000 children undergo treatment for cancer each year.
• When a child is diagnosed with cancer- so is their family and everyone that loves them.
• The 10 Most Common Types of Childhood Cancers
  1. Leukemia (acute lymphoblastic & acute myeloid)
  2. CNS, brain and spinal cord tumors
  3. Lymphomas (including Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin)
  4. Skin cancer and melanomas
  5. Soft tissue tumors (including rhabdomyosarcoma)
  6. Germ cell tumors
  7. Neuroblastoma
  8. Bone cancers (including osteosarcoma & Ewing sarcoma)
  9. Renal cancer (including Wilms tumor)
  10. Retinoblastoma
• In the United States, among children, from birth to age 19, more than 18,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed each year.
• Many parents have to travel hours to hospitals to get treatment for their children. They often times have to stay there for more than a month. This leaves one parent at the hospital and one parent at home to take care of siblings. It’s very hard on the entire family.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month