First consider these 3 key statistics:
- Childhood Cancer treatments often cause lifelong disabilities such as motor and cognitive impairments, loss of limbs, as well as heart, vision and hearing impairments; over 60% of survivors report long term effects which may arise years after treatment.
- 1 in 330 individuals will be diagnosed with a malignant disease before their 20th birthday.
- By the year 2010, it is estimated that between 1 in 250 to 400 young adults (aged 15 – 45) will be a childhood cancer survivor.
Now here is some information about Childhood Cancer
- The term cancer refers to a group of diseases, each with its own name, treatment and chances for control or cure. Cancer occurs when abnormal cells multiply and grow uncontrollably, crowding out normal cells;
- Scientists do not fully understand why normal cells mature and cancerous cells do not;
- Cancers in children differ from those in adults because childhood cancers are often genetic, whereas adult cancers are often related to lifestyle;
- Childhood cancers include:
- Leukemia’s (cancers of the blood-producing tissues); (most prevalent cancer)
- Lymphomas (cancers of the lymphatic system);
- Brain tumors;
- Solid tumors (i.e. bone cancers);
- Brain tumors account for a large proportion of childhood cancers. Solid tumors, affecting body parts such as arms or legs, constitute the rest of childhood cancers;
- Cancer is the number one disease killing children from age six months through to young adulthood. It is the leading cause of non-accidental death in children.
- Every year 1600 Canadian children are diagnosed with cancer; 400 children in Ontario.
- Every year 227 Canadian children die from the disease;
- Advances in cancer research have significantly increased the odds of survival. A shift toward multidisciplinary care has improved outcomes and decreased morbidity rates by more than 50 per cent since the 1950s;
- 40 years ago essentially no one survived childhood leukemia; today, 80 per cent of young people with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are alive five years after diagnosis;
- Leukemia accounts for 26 per cent of new childhood cancer cases and 30 per cent of deaths
- Treating a child with cancer demands a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week commitment of specialized care. Childhood cancers are generally more successfully treated than cancers in adults because the cancers grow more quickly and are, therefore, more susceptible to chemotherapy and radiation. Childhood cancer treatments may include chemo, radiation, surgery or bone marrow transplants;
- Cancer treatments are long and often difficult to persevere but it is the immune system suppression and the resulting inability to go out into public that is the most trying for kids;
- The short term effects of cancer and its treatments may include a compromised immune system, hair loss, nausea, muscle aches, loss of appetite, mood problems and poor self image (especially in teens)
- Treatments can last from six months up to three years;
- If the child relapses it can take months, even years, to bring them back into remission.
- 1 in 5 young adult survivors of cancer suffer from post traumatic stress disorder
- Childhood and adolescent cancers have an enormous impact on the whole family. Young families are the most affected as they are forced to make difficult and often costly sacrifices affecting their employment and career development while struggling to navigate the health care and social welfare systems and maintain a stable environment for all of their children.
- Childhood and adolescent cancers often have an impact that continues far beyond the end of treatment. Survivors and their families frequently require ongoing mental, physical, and financial support. Childhood cancer has a devastating effect on parents, siblings, extended family, friends and communities everywhere.
- Pediatric cancer, representing just 2% of cancer cases and treated by a relatively small group of professionals spread among 17 tertiary care centres across the country, struggles for attention in the big cancer control world.
- Because of its unique challenges in treatment and care, childhood cancer cannot be lumped in with the general adult cancer world.
