Childhood Cancer (Ages 0-14)

• Approximately 850 Canadian children aged 0-14 develop cancer each year. Childhood cancers account for under 1 percent of all cancers diagnosed in Canada. But it remains the most common disease related cause of death in children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 and the second leading cause of all deaths among children aged 1 to 14. The number of deaths is one-sixth the number of cases.
• While the cancer incidence rate in children has been relatively constant since 1985, the cancer mortality rate continues to decline.
• The improvement in childhood cancer survival can be attributed to better treatments driven by clinical trials and standardization of care and support services.
• Cancers in children differ from those occurring in adults in both their site of origin and their behaviour. The majority of cancers in adults are carcinomas (malignant tumour) which start in the glands or tissues that line organs such as the breast, lung, prostate or colon. In
• Children, carcinomas are very rare. Tumours in children have short latency periods, often grow rapidly and are aggressive, invasive and frequently spread to other parts of the body. Relative to adults, cancers in children include a higher proportion of hematopoietic (blood and lymphatic) malignancies, most commonly leukemia.
• The most common cancers diagnosed in children are leukemia (cancer of the blood)(33 percent of new cases in 2004), brain and spinals tumours(20 percent of new cases in 2004), and lymphomas (Hodgkin: cancer of lymph nodes)(non-Hodgkin lymphoma: cancer of infection fighting cells)(12 percent of new cases in 2004).

Risk Factors

Most childhood cancers develop without any cause or predisposing factor. Possible factors include:

• The embryonic nature of some tumours suggests that many childhood cancers result from changes in early developmental processes and stages including maternal exposures during fetal development.
• The high rate of childhood cancer before the age of 5 suggests that prenatal factors play a role in cancer development.
• The rapid cellular growth that occurs in the first 4-5 years of life is a period of time when cells are vulnerable and can easily become altered and possibly cancerous.
• The carcinogenic process in children appears to be much shorter which prevents experts from ruling out environmental factors.

Other childhood cancers tend to develop more commonly during middle childhood and adolescent years which suggests that postnatal factors, rather than prenatal factors, may have an effect.

• What can I do to reduce my risk of cancer?
• How should I eat to reduce my risk of cancer?
• Can being physically active lower my risk of cancer?

Managing Childhood Cancer

• How is cancer treated?
• How can I cope with cancer?
• How can I help someone coping with cancer?

Facts & Figures

• Childhood Cancer Facts and Figures
• Cancer Surveillance On-Line
• Chronic Disease Infobase
• Economic Burden of Illness

Knowledge Development and Exchange

• Cancer Publications
• Cancer Clinical Practice Guidelines
• Canadian Best Practices Portal
• Chronic Diseases in Canada (CDIC)

Initiatives, Strategies, Systems and Programs

The Canadian Childhood Cancer Surveillance and Control Program (CCCSCP) was envisioned as a partnership between health care providers, researchers, consumers, provincial/territorial and federal governments, voluntary agencies, universities and organizations concerned with cancer in Canada's children. It aims to examine the implications of childhood cancer on Canada's health care system and fill gaps in knowledge about the control of childhood cancer. Its goal is to contribute toward reducing mortality, improving the prognosis, and reducing the suffering and burden of childhood cancer.

The CCCSCP plans to accomplish these goals through the following activities:

• Produce accurate data on the incidence of childhood cancer in Canada, especially the severity of disease at diagnosis;
• Evaluate access to state-of-the-art care and clinical outcomes in a national population-based setting;
• Identify the psychosocial and physical long-term effects of survivors;
• Estimate the medical costs of childhood cancer to the Canadian health care system;
• Identify risk factors for developing childhood cancer; and
• Disseminate relevant information to stakeholders and the general public.

Links

• Childhood Cancer Links