Did you know the following facts about childhood cancer? See the infographics here, or read below.

• • Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the U.S. It’s the second leading cause of death (following accidents) in children ages 5-14.

• • Every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer. That’s 300,000 kids around the world every year. Learn more about this new statistic.

• • While the survival rates have improved significantly since 1960s, still, one in five children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will not survive. For the ones who do, the battle is never over.

• • Long term effects. Because of the treatments they had as kids, by the time they’re in their 30s or 40s, more than 95% of childhood cancer survivors will have a chronic health problem and 80% will have severe or life- threatening conditions.

• • Grossly limited funding. Only 4% of federal government cancer research funding goes to children.

• • Not enough advances in research or treatment. Since 1980, fewer than 10 drugs have been developed for use in children with cancer. For many of the childhood cancers, the same treatments that existed in the 1970’s continue with few, if any, changes.

• • Expensive treatment. The average cost of a stay in a hospital for a child with cancer is $40,000 per stay.  On average, pediatric hospitalizations for cancer cost almost five times as much as hospitalizations for other pediatric conditions.

Source: St Baldrick’s Foundation, Coalition against Childhood Cancer

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