Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: Supporting Children and Families

What this observance is

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, observed in September, stands with children who have cancer and the families who love and care for them. A cancer diagnosis is upsetting at any age, and especially so when the patient is a child, so this month leans toward support, understanding, and hope grounded in real progress.

What this cancer is

The National Cancer Institute explains that the most common cancers diagnosed in children ages 0 to 14 are leukemias, brain and other central nervous system tumors, and lymphomas. Children's cancers are not always treated like adult cancers, which is why pediatric oncology is its own medical specialty and why children are often treated at specialized children's cancer centers. NCI shares an encouraging trend: cancer death rates for this age group declined by about 70 percent from 1970 through 2020, thanks in large part to clinical trials, though cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease among children. NCI also notes that in 2020 there were nearly 496,000 childhood cancer survivors in the United States.

Screening & prevention (per NCI)

NCI explains that the causes of most childhood cancers are not known. About 8 to 10 percent of cancers in children are caused by an inherited genetic change passed from a parent. Unlike many adult cancers, childhood cancers are generally not linked to lifestyle or environmental exposures that can be avoided, and identifying environmental causes has been difficult because these cancers are rare and early-life exposures are hard to measure. NCI does not describe a routine screening program or a set of prevention steps for childhood cancers in general; because most causes are unknown and the cancers are uncommon, there is no broad screening or prevention strategy of the kind that exists for some adult cancers. NCI does emphasize that many childhood cancers can be treated effectively and that survivors need ongoing follow-up care to monitor for late effects of treatment. See the NCI link for more.

How to take part

• Learn the accurate, hopeful facts, including the major progress in survival.
• Support families navigating a child's diagnosis, including siblings, who also feel the strain.
• Support childhood cancer research and clinical trials, which have driven most of the progress.
• Support free cancer education so reliable information reaches families who need it.

Questions to ask a healthcare team

• What type of childhood cancer is being discussed, and what does that mean?
• Is treatment at a specialized children's cancer center an option?
• Are there clinical trials that might be appropriate?
• What follow-up care will be needed after treatment, and what late effects should we watch for?