Childhood Cancer Facts & Challenges

• 1 in 285 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• 47 Children are diagnosed with cancer every day.
• The average age a child is diagnosed with cancer is 6.
• More than 40,000 children undergo treatment for cancer each year.
• Childhood cancer rates have increased by 24% in the last 40 years.
• There are 16 types of childhood cancer and over 100 subtypes.
• The genetics and molecular biology of childhood cancers are different from adult cancers, but we still use adult treatments for children.

95% of childhood cancer survivors develop treatment-related health problems, including:

• Organ damage (Liver, Heart, Lungs, Kidneys, Bladder, etc.)
• Infertility
• Nerve Damage and Chronic Pain
• Secondary Cancers
• Thyroid Problems
• Learning Disorders and Memory Impairment
• Vision and Hearing Impairment

• Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children.
• 250 children lose their life to cancer every day.
• 91,250 kids lose their life to cancer every year.
• 17% of children diagnosed with cancer will die within 5 years of diagnosis. 35% of children diagnosed with cancer will die within 30 years of diagnosis.

• 1 in 530 young adults (age 20-39) is a childhood cancer survivor.
• There are 375,000 adult survivors of childhood cancer in the U.S.
• The 5-year survival rates for childhood cancer depend on the type of cancer, ranging from 0% for DIPG (a type of brain cancer) to 90% for ALL (a type of leukemia).