10 Facts About Childhood Cancer
September is childhood cancer awareness month, and in honor of that, I wanted to share ten facts about childhood cancer. Hopefully these will be facts that not everyone knows, and maybe you can learn something valuable from this post. So let’s get started!
#1 – Childhood Cancer Is More Common Than You Think
When it comes to kids getting cancer, many people think that even though it’s undoubtedly tragic, that it probably isn’t too common. It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of assuming that most kids are healthy. Because it’s easier to accept than the alternative.
But the truth is, cancer affects a lot more children than you would think. Every year, about 400,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer around the globe. And in the US, 43 children are diagnosed with cancer per day.
#2 – Cancer Kills More Kids Than Any Other Disease In The US
Once a child gets past infancy, their risk for disease-related death is extremely low except for cancer. In the US, cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in children past infancy until around the age of 14.
And sadly, about 23 kids per day die from cancer around the world. This adds up to 1,250 children who die from cancer per year.
#3 – Most Kids Diagnosed With Cancer Are 10 Years Old
Of course, kids can get cancer at any point. There are childhood cancer-sufferers ranging from babies to teens, and no child is immune. But in general, the average child to be diagnosed with cancer is about 10 years old.
#4 – Common Types of Childhood Cancers Are Different From Adult Ones
Cancers that affect adults are fairly well known. We know to look out for things like breast, lung, skin, prostate, pancreas, and colon cancer. But the most common types of cancer that affect kids are different.
Common pediatric cancers are bone cancer, Wilms tumor, neuroblastoma, leukemia, brain tumors, retinoblastoma, lymphoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. Leukemia is the most diagnosed type of childhood cancer.
#5 – A Childhood Cancer Survivor’s Fight Doesn’t End With Cancer
Although it is always amazing to hear that a child has been cured of their cancer, but the sad truth is that their battle isn’t over. Some discouraging statistics show that there are long term negative effects associated with childhood cancer and more specifically the medicine that is used to treat it.
About 95% of childhood cancer survivors will have to deal with negative side effects caused by the cancer medication for a large portion of their life, if not their whole life.
#6 – Childhood Cancer Has Very Little To Do With The Child’s Lifestyle
Environmental and lifestyle-based factors are the biggest causes of cancers in adults, but that isn’t the case for children. In fact, a large portion of childhood cancer cases happen by chance, through a virus, or through a genetic mutation.
#7 – Childhood Cancer Is Hard To Prevent
Since we don’t even know a lot of the factors that go into kids developing cancer, it’s hard to talk about prevention or know what to do to stop it from happening. And to make matters even worse, childhood cancer is hard and sometimes impossible to detect with screening.
#8 – Not Every Child Has Access To Good Medical Care
In high income countries, about 80% of childhood cancer patients are cured. Which makes sense because about 96% of high income countries report that their population has access to cancer fighting drugs.
But less than 30% of children are cured in middle/low income countries. And 71% of low income countries report that their population doesn’t have easy access to cancer fighting drugs.
#9 – Treatments For Childhood Cancer Are Similar To Adult Treatment
Although childhood cancer is different from adult cancer in many different ways, it still responds to similar forms of medication. So most kids will be looking at typical cancer treatment plans.
Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, sometimes immunotherapy, and even surgery are all possible treatments. And these treatments can take several months, or sometimes, several years.
#10 – There Is Hope!
Despite the grim outlook on cancer in general, there is still hope. Which is why I want to close out this post by talking about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is a place that has been near and dear to my heart for many years, and I’ve made sure to donate to them over the span of my adult life even when money was tight.
They not only function as a hospital and treatment center for kids with cancer, but they are also one of the leading researchers in the field. In fact, since their launch in 1962, they’ve raised the survival rate of kids with cancer from 20% to 80%! And they’re committed to coming up with even better treatments that don’t leave long lasting effects.
Plus, they provide their care without any cost to the families of the children. They’ll even pay for travel and housing so that families can bring their kids somewhere to receive the help they need.
So in honor of childhood cancer awareness month, and in honor of the beautiful work that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital does, I wanted to make this post and ask all of you that can afford it to donate a bit of money here in September. It will be going to a fantastic place!
