MICHAEL URAKAMI/S.F. GIANTS (2) CHILDHOOD
CANCER:
FACTS AND
FIGURES
After accidents, cancer is the second
leading cause of death for children
ages 1-14. Yet it only receives
4 percent of government dollars
that go toward cancer research.
Other facts on pediatric cancer:
• Each year, about 175,000 children
ages 14 and younger are diagnosed
with cancer worldwide.
• About 420,000 childhood cancer
survivors live in the U.S., with
many more around the world.
• Leukemias, which are cancers of
the bone marrow and blood, are the
most common childhood cancers.
• Most childhood cancer patients
will have chronic medical conditions
from treatment.
• The FDA recently approved the
first gene therapy treatment for
childhood leukemia that uses patients’
genetically altered immune
cells to fight the disease. The move
is said to have major positive ramifications
for patients with cancer
as well as other diseases.
• Thanks to better therapies, more
than 80 percent of U.S. childhood
cancer patients now become longterm
survivors.
Sources: American Cancer Society, St Jude Children’s
Research Hospital, The Washington Post,
The Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA).
54 South Bay Accent
Buster Posey
plays ball with
the kids at Family
House in San
Francisco.