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Childhood Cancer Facts
Committed to the fight against children's cancer
Childhood cancer is the term used to describe cancers that afflict children, teenagers and young adults. Research has shown that one in 600 children will develop some form of cancer before their 16th birthday, and when cancer strikes children and young adults it affects them differently than it would most adults.
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Childhood Cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different types that fall into 12 major categories. It is also the #1 disease killer among children, surpassing that of asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and paediatric AIDS combined.
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The instances of children affected with cancer occur regularly and randomly across the Caribbean, and spare no ethnic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region.
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Unlike most adult cancers which often stem from lifestyle choices such as diet, smoking habits and the nature of an individual’s occupation,
there is little evidence to suggest specific reasons for the causes of most childhood cancers.
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Leukemias and cancers of the brain and central nervous system account for more than half of childhood cancers. However, research has revealed that
the survival rate of common childhood cancers such as brain tumors and leukemia is good.
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Today, approximately 75% of the children diagnosed with cancer can be cured, but there are some forms of childhood cancer that have proven to
be resistant to treatment.
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Children, teens and young adults, when first diagnosed with a form of cancer, often come to the realisation that the cancer is at an advanced stage. In most instances, attempts at early detection so that the cancer could be treated at an earlier stage when it should be more receptive to treatment have not been largely successful.
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