Facts About Neuroblastoma Cancer
- Neuroblastoma is the 3rd most popular cancer among children and often the most difficult to treat.
- It is the most common tumor found in children younger than 1 year of age.
- Every 16 hours a child with neuroblastoma dies.
- Neuroblastoma is a very aggressive cancer, and nearly 70% of those children first diagnosed with neuroblastoma have disease that has already metastasized or spread to other parts of the body. When disease has spread at diagnosis and a child is over the age of 2, there is less than a 30% chance of survival.
- Approximately 1,000 children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma in the United States each year.
- Doctors have known about neuroblastoma for approximately 35 years.
- Neuroblastoma is primarily diagnosed in children younger than 5 years.
- The cause of neuroblastoma is unknown, and it is more likely to occur in males than females.
- Neuroblastoma has one of the lowest survival rates of all pediatric cancers.
- 70 out of 100 neuroblastoma patients have a period of remission. Of those 70, 35 will relapse. Out of those 35, 20 -30% will go into remission for a second time. Most of that 30% will relapse again and not have a chance to grow up.
- Neuroblastoma is difficult to diagnose in small children, and its progression is often rapid and painful.
- Of all cancer research money, pediatric cancer gets less than 3%. Neuroblastoma itself gets even less than that.
- Neuroblastoma accounts for 8% of childhood cancer cases, but is responsible for 15% of all childhood cancer deaths.
- Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer in children.
- Childhood cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different types that fall into twelve major categories.
- There are no widespread FDA approved drugs or treatments available today designed to specifically treat neuroblastoma. Treatments include chemotherapy drugs designed for different types of adult cancers.
- Cancers are extremely rare in children, yet many cancers are almost exclusively found in children.
- Currently there are approximately 40,000 children undergoing cancer treatment in the US.
- September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which nationally goes unrecognized.
- It is becoming increasingly apparent that childhood cancer “is for life.”
- 3 out of every 5 children diagnosed with cancer suffer long term or late onset side effects such as heart damage, chemo induced secondary cancer, lung damage, infertility, hearing loss, growth defects and more.
- At present childhood cancer cannot be prevented and occurs regularly and randomly, sparing no ethnic group, socioeconomic or geographic class.
- It is estimated that 1 in every 450 adults is a childhood cancer survivor.
- Cancer symptoms in children – fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises and infection – are often suspected to be, and at the early stages treated as, other childhood illnesses.
- There is no known cure for relapsed neuroblastoma.
- In the past 20 years only one new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.
- 14,000 children will be diagnosed this year with cancer. That is the size of 2 average classrooms every single day, year after year.
- Pharmaceutical companies fund over 50% of adult cancer research, but virtually nothing for kids.
Facts about Childhood Cancer
Today 46 children will be told they have cancer.
1 out of 5 of them, will not survive.
1 in 330 children will be diagnosed with cancer and the average age of those, is 6 years old.
Cancer is the number 1 disease killer of our children......
*So lets make a difference and help find a cure for our children*