Childhood Cancer Facts

For the people who do... or don't understand.
This deserves to be read, and read by anyone and everyone.

*Childhood cancers are the #1 disease killer of children - more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined.

*The U.S. invests approximately $595,000 for research per victim of pediatric AIDS and only $20,000 for each victim of childhood cancer.

*The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) federal budget was $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 12%, prostate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%.

*Childhood cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different types that fall into 12 major categories. Common adult cancers are extremely rare in children, yet many cancers are almost exclusively found in children.

*Childhood Cancers are cancers that primarily affect children, teens, and young adults. When cancer strikes children and young adults it affects them differently than it would an adult.

*Attempts to detect childhood cancers at an earlier stage, when the disease would react more favorably to treatment, have largely failed. Young patients often have a more advanced stage of cancer when first diagnosed. (Approximately 20% of adults with cancer show evidence the disease has spread, yet almost 80% of children show that the cancer has spread to distant sites at the time of diagnosis).

*Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region.

*The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented. (Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents).

*One in every 330 Americans will develop cancer by the age of 20. On the average, 12,500 children and adolescents in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year.

*On the average, 1 in every 4 elementary school has a child with cancer. The average high school has two students who are a current or former cancer patient. In the U.S., about 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every weekday.

*While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each year from cancer.

*Childhood leukemia (making up the largest group of childhood cancers) was once a certain death sentence, but now can be cured almost 80% of the time.

*Although cure rates are steadily increasing, 35% of children will die.

* Some forms of childhood cancers have proven so resistant to treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is illusive.

*More than 70 percent of children diagnosed with cancer become long-term survivors and the majority of them are considered cured after 2-5 years 9depending on type). However, long-term effects of surviving the treatments for childhood cancer can affect these children's futures and life.

*Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis, including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas, relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

*Cancer treatment can cause serious side effects that may last a lifetime or shorten their life.

*Detecting childhood cancers at an early stage, when the disease would react more favorably to treatment, is extremely difficult.

*Cancer symptoms in children – fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises and infection – are often suspected to be, and at the early stages are treated as, other childhood illnesses.

*Even with insurance coverage, a family will have out-of pocket expenses of about $40,000 per year, not including travel.

*Research on the emotional impact of childhood cancer finds that parents and siblings report even greater longterm emotional impacts than the diagnosed child

*Every family is potentially at risk.

*In almost all cases, childhood cancers arise from non-inherited mutations (or changes) in the genes of growing cells. As these errors occur randomly and unpredictably, there is currently no effective way to predict or prevent them.

*Nationally, childhood cancer is 20x more prevalent than pediatric AIDS.

*Pediatric AIDS receives 4x the funding that childhood cancer receives.

*In one month there are 2x as many deaths from childhood cancer as pediatric AIDS for the entire year.

*How do you explain chemotherapy and radiation to a child? One girl’s parents called it “magic water” — magic water that would make the pain in her legs go away. They promised her the pain would go away and it worked for 3 years.When the magic water stopped working and their little girl asked if the next round of magic water would help the pain go away, the parents could only reply that they hoped it would.

*September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.

*7 months ago: WASHINGTON - JULY 29: U.S. President George W. Bush signs H.R. 1553, the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquor Childhood Cancer Avt of 2008 in the Oval Office of the White house as Eden Adams, 8, Wyatt Rech, 6; U.S. Representative Deborah Pryce (-OH) and Hannah Lewis, 7 look on July 29, 2008 in Washington, D.C. The act will fund research for childhood cancer.

*Fight for a cure. Be aware.It happened to our boy, and it can happen to anyone.We love you Aiden! Keep fighting!