children s health issues
Overview of Childhood Cancer
Introduction
In the United States, the overall incidence of cancer in children and adolescents has increased over time. From 1975 to 2022, rates increased by approximately 0.8 per 100,000 each year. However, death rates decreased from 1970 through 2019 by 71% in children (from 6.3 to 1.8 per 100,000) and by 61% in adolescents (from 7.2 to 2.8 per 100,000). Despite improvements in survival rates, cancer remains a major cause of death among children. In the United States, cancer is the second most common cause of death among children 1 to 14 years old (surpassed only by accidents) and is the fourth most common cause of death among adolescents 15 to 19 years old. Some of the most common cancers that occur in children or adolescents also occur in adults: Overview of Leukemia , the most common childhood cancer (accounts for about 28% of childhood cancer cases) Overview of Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors in Children (26% of cases) Overview of Lymphoma (19% of cases) Osteosarcomas (osteogenic sarcoma) and Cancers that occur only in childrenare Neuroblastoma None Retinoblastoma None Rhabdomyosarcoma None Wilms Tumor None In contrast to many cancers that affect adults, cancers that occur mainly in children tend to be much more curable. Over 80% of children and adolescents with cancer survive at least 5 years. In the United States in 2018, it was estimated that there were approximately 500,000 adult survivors of childhood cancer (that is, they are adults who were first diagnosed with cancer before 20 years of age). 