Did You Know?

Today, despite amazing research progress, cancer still takes the lives of more children than any other disease including asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and AIDS combined.

Pediatric Cancer Facts and Statistics:

• Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer and second leading cause of death (exceeded  only by accidents) of children.
• On any given school day, approximately 46 young people or two classes of students are   diagnosed with  cancer everyday in the US.
• Every year, more than 12,500 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• Every year, 2,500 children under the age of 20 lose their lives to cancer.
• On the average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer.
• The average high school has two students who are current or former cancer patients.
• The causes of most childhood cancers are unknown. At present, childhood cancer cannot be prevented.
• Although cure rates are steadily increasing, 35% of children will die from a diagnosis of  cancer.
• Childhood cancers affect more potential patient-years of life than any other cancer except breast and  lung cancer
• Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region. In the United States, the incidence of cancer among adolescents and young adults is increasing at a greater rate than any other age group, except those over 65 years.