Statistics

• 1 in 330 children will be diagnosed with cancer by age 20.



• On average, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer every day in the United States.



• 1 child out of 5 who is diagnosed with cancer dies.



• 3 out of 5 children suffer from long-term side effects.



• The incidence of childhood cancer has increased EVERY year for the last 25 years!



• Currently there are 40,000 children being treated for cancer in the US .



• Approximately 70% of children with cancer participate in research trials compared to only 3% of adult cancer patients. As a result, many of the advances in adult cancer treatments are due to breakthroughs in childhood cancer research.



• Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and exposure to cancer-causing agents. The cause of most childhood cancers in unknown.



• In the past 25 years ONLY ONE new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use. Since children can handle much more chemo than adults, most treatments are little more than mega doses of adult cancer chemotherapy treatments. The result of these high doses of chemo in children is a higher rate of secondary cancers.



• As a nation, we spend $14 BILLION per year on the space program, but only $35 MILLION on childhood cancer research per year.



• September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness month, which nationally goes largely unrecognized.