Children’s cancers are rare. Only 1 in every 600 children under 15 years of age develops a cancer, and these are quite different from cancers affecting adults. They tend to occur in different parts of the body, look different under th emicroscope and respond differently to treatment. There are approximately 1700 new cases of childhood cancer (up to age 15) in the UK each year.
What causes cancer?
Nobody knows the cause of cancer, although there are many theories. A great deal of research is currently underway studying a number of possible causes. Sometimes 2 or 3 children develop cancer in the same school or village causing local concern. These cases are carefully investigated but at present they do seem to arise by chance.
In general cancer occurs when cells in the body become out of control and multiply. They stop working properly and as their numbers increase they form a lump or tumour. When cancer cells break away and spread to other parts of the body they may produce secondary tumours known as metastases.
Cancers are not infectious, nor, for most cancers, is there any evidence that they are inherited. It is exceptionally rare for a second child in a family to develop cancer. Parents often worry that their child has a cancer because of something they did or did not do. This is not the case and parents should not feel guilty or take any sort of blame for their child developing cancer.
Although the total number of children developing cancer has changed little in the last 40 years, the prospects for many have improved dramatically with advances in treatment. Seven in 10 children with cancer are now cured, compared with fewer than 3 in 10 in 1962 – 1966.
The proportion of children aged 0-15 years with cancer, who are treated by CCLG members has increased to some 90% of all children with cancer, and of these a high proportion are entered into clinical trials. Since 1977 when the CCLG was created there has been a progressive trend of increased survival for children treated in CCLG centres, showing particularly a benefit for children treated in CCLG Centres compared with those treated elsewhere. Studies of different tumour types and the multi-disciplinary nature of the CCLG have contributed greatly to the encouraging trends for children with cancer in the UK.
As more children are cured of cancer, longer term adverse effects of treatment may become apparent. The CCLG is seeking not only to improve survival rates, but also to ensure a normal future – both physically and emotionally – for these children.
Because childhood cancer is rare, there is not a great deal of patient information. However, the CCLG in conjunction with Cancerbackup have produced A Parent’s Guide to Children’s Cancers which provides information on diagnostic tests and different treatments, and addresses some of the questions and day to day concerns that parents have about their child’s illness.
