CHILDHOOD CANCER MENU
• What is cancer? • Causes • Diagnosis and tests • Conditions Acute Lymphblastic Leukaemia Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Bone Cancers Brain Tumours Germ Cell Tumours Hodgkin's Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Neuroblastoma Retinoblastoma Soft Tissure Sarcoma Wilms' Tumour • Treatment • Side effects • Beyond treatment • Facts and Statistics The above pages are intended to back up the information you get from the hospital, not to replace medical advice from a consultant. | Facts and Statistics • The term ‘childhood cancer’ is defined as tumours affecting those in the population under the age of 15 years.
• Childhood cancers are generally very different to those seen in adults. • Childhood cancers can be grouped into twelve types: • Cancer is relatively rare in children, accounting for 0.5% of all cancers. • In the UK around 1,500* children are diagnosed with cancer each year. • Around 1 in 500 children in Britain will develop some form of cancer by 14 years of age. • Leukaemia is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in children. • Leukaemia and brain tumours account for more than half of all cancers in childhood. • In Britain childhood cancer incidence rates have increased by over 40% since the late 1960s. • Throughout Europe, childhood cancer incidence rates are lowest in the British Isles and highest in Northern Europe. How many children survive cancer? • More children than ever are surviving cancer. • The survival rate for children’s cancer has more than doubled since the 1960s. • It is estimated that there are around 26,000 childhood cancer survivors in Britain. • Almost three-quarters of children with cancer are now cured of their disease, compared with around a quarter in the late 1960s • For every ten children diagnosed with cancer, almost eight now survive for five years or more, compared with fewer than three in ten in the late 1960s • Eight out of ten children with leukaemia now survive for five years or more. In the late 1960s only one in ten survived. • Nearly all children diagnosed with retinoblastoma (a type of eye cancer) are cured. • Five year survival rates for children with hepatoblastoma (a type of liver cancer) have more than trebled since the late 1970s. • Survival rates for children with rhabdomyosarcoma (a type of muscle cancer) have doubled since the early 1970s. • Now eight out of ten children survive kidney cancer compared to only six in ten in the early 1970s. • Around six out of ten children with neuroblastoma (a cancer of the nerve tissue) are cured. How many children die from cancer? • In the UK cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in children aged 1-14 years and accounts for just under a fifth of all deaths in this age group. • Almost 300* children die from cancer each year in the UK. • Brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumours are the most common cause of childhood cancer death. • Thanks to many years of dedicated research, the death rate for children with cancer has more than halved since the 1960s. What are the main causes of childhood cancer? • Very little is known about the causes of most childhood cancers. • Several rare genetic syndromes, such as Fanconi anaemia and Li-Fraumeni syndrome, are associated with an increased risk of certain childhood cancers. • There is evidence that some childhood leukaemias may develop after an abnormal response to infection early in life. • Children with Down’s syndrome are at a greater risk of developing leukaemia. • Two in five retinoblastomas (a type of eye cancer) are caused by an inherited faulty gene. • Most studies have shown no evidence for an increase in risk of electromagnetic sources such as power lines and domestic wiring • The high incidence of certain childhood cancers in some regions of the world is linked with infections by viruses such as Epstein-Barr, hepatitis B and human herpes virus 8. • Some children treated with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy are at a greater risk of developing a second primary cancer. * Average of the last three years Source: facts and figures from www.cancerresearchuk.org |
