September is Childhood Cancer Month

Then:

Now:

Did you know?

• Each day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer.
• Each year in the U.S., approximately 12,500 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer. That’s the equivalent of two average size classrooms diagnosed each school day.
• One in every 330 Americans develops cancer before the age of 20
• 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.
• Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the United States. 35% of children cancer patients will die.
• The causes of most childhood cancers are unknown. At present, childhood cancer cannot be prevented.
• Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographical region.
• Among ethnic groups, white children are most likely  to develop cancer.
• 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.
• When cancer strikes children and young adults it affects them differently than it would an adult.
• Today, nearly 80% of children diagnosed with cancer become long-term survivors and the majority of them are considered cured. That is up from approximately 58% from 20 years ago.
• Despite these facts, childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded.