Childhood Cancer Facts
(source: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation)
• Childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded. Less than 5% of the federal government’s total funding for cancer research is dedicated to childhood cancers each year.
• Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the United States.
• One in 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer by the time they are 20 years old.
• Every year, an estimated 250,000+ new cases of cancer affect children under the age of 20 worldwide.
• Two-thirds of childhood cancer patients will have long lasting chronic conditions from treatment.
• Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group; socioeconomic class; or geographic region. In the United States, the incidence of cancer among adolescents and young adults is increasing at a greater rate than any other age group, except those over 65 years.
• Childhood cancer is not just one disease. It is made up of a dozen types and countless subtypes.