September is Childhood Cancer Month!

Spread awareness! Thirty facts - one for each day of the month. Please share this list with your family and friends.

Don't forget to wear the Gold Ribbon in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Visit the Candlelighters store for awareness items.

Let's make the Gold Ribbon as recognizable as the Pink Ribbon!

30 Childhood Cancer Facts

1. One in every 330 American children will be diagnosed with cancer before age 20.

2. The average high school has 2 students who are cancer patients or survivors. One in four elementary schools has a child with cancer.

3. Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the US.

4. The causes of most childhood cancers are unknown. It can not be prevented.(Many adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents)

5. On average, 36 children in the US are diagnosed each day with cancer.

6. Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region. In the US, the incidence of cancer among adolescents and young adults is increasing at a greater rate than any other age group, except those over 65.

7. Childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded.

8. Chemotherapy was first shown to be effective in childhood cancer.

9. The discovery of the first tumor suppressor gene occurred in children with cancer.

10. The National Cancer Institute’s budget is $4.8 Billion. The total for all grants related to childhood cancer is $173 Million. That’s only 3.6% of the federal governments cancer budget. Aren’t our kids worth more than that?

11. Some types of childhood leukemia have survival rates over 90%. Some types of brain tumors have a 0% survival rate. If it’s your child, it’s either 0 or 100%. Anything else means nothing.

12. Overall, nearly 80% of children diagnosed with cancer survive. While 80% on a test is pretty good, the deaths of one out of every 5 children diagnosed is not.

13. Two-thirds of children who are cured of cancer in childhood end up with at least one long-term health problem arising from their treatment. One-third have severe complications such as mental retardation, lung damage or congestive heart failure. In all, they are four times as likely to have serious health problems as their siblings.

14. The Children’s Oncology Group/CureSearch is an NCI funded pediatric cancer research cooperative group. They treat over 90% of US kids diagnosed with cancer. St. Jude’s Research Hospital has a world class public relations dept, and they do excellent research, but they don’t treat nearly as many kids as CureSearch-COG doctors do.

15. 10,400 children are diagnosed with cancer every year. 2,000 of them die each year.

16. Become a regular blood donor. Kids in cancer treatment often need blood products.

17. Over the past 20 years, there has been an increase in the overall rate of childhood cancer.

18. Leukemias and brain tumors are the most common types of childhood cancer accounting for more than half of all diagnoses.

19. There is no “good” cancer. Never, ever say this to a parent.

20. Treatment for the most common types of leukemia goes on for over 3 years. Most adult cancer treatment is counted in months.

21. Just because a child’s hair has grown back, does not mean that treatment is over.

22. Adolescents and young adults have a higher rate of survival when treated on pediatric treatment plans compared to adult plans.

23. Cancer is not contagious.

24. Children in treatment often have lowered immune systems and can’t fight off simple germs like colds and flu. Stay away if you’re sick.

25. Childhood cancer effects the whole family. If you can, befriend a sibling-they could use the attention and support.

26. Research is the only hope for finding a cure for childhood cancer.

27. What not to say to a parent: What did you do to cause the cancer? Have you tried (fill-in-the-blank herbal cure)? I don’t know how you do it-I could never handle it. (real quotes)

28. A parent may have a smile on their face as they talk to you, but that doesn't mean they don't cry in the night, it only means that they are trying to make you comfortable so that you will keep talking to them. Families in cancer treatment become very isolated. After a while, they stop telling you how their child really is when you ask, because they learn that people want to hear “fine” and move on.

29. Send jokes to the family effected by cancer. Nobody needs to laugh more than someone hanging out on a kids cancer ward.

30. If your child is a friend of a child with cancer, encourage that friendship. Kids with cancer miss a lot of school and need friends to keep them connected.