A new report from the Alliance for Childhood Cancer and the American Cancer Society emphasizes the gaps and obstacles that face pediatric cancer research, showing that it is important to guarantee long-term health for pediatric cancer survivors.
The report includes the most recent information about pediatric cancer, trends, statistics, current drugs that treat pediatric cancer, research funding levels and ongoing pediatric cancer clinical trials.
This report, “Translating Discovery into Cures for Children with Cancer: Childhood Cancer Research Landscape Report,” is the first of its kind that unites statistics and information concerning childhood cancers. It joins them under important analysis about the opportunity as well as challenges that face pediatric cancer treatment and prevention.
An estimated 14,660 children between the ages of newborn and 19 years old will receive pediatric cancer diagnoses in 2016. Of these children, 1,850 will die. According to research from 2013, each pediatric cancer death erases an average of 69 years of life.
“The numbers here tell a compelling story,” Katherine Sharpe, senior vice president of patient and caregiver support for the American Cancer Society, said. “We have seen significant progress when it comes to developing effective treatments for a variety of pediatric cancer sites and ultimately saving lives. But when we expand our view to look at all pediatric cancers, as well as long term health and survival, it becomes clear that there are still areas of research where progress is urgently needed.”
