Childhood Cancers

Abstract

The commonest causes of death in children differ from one country to another. They include infection and malnutrition, accidents, cancer and congenital malformations. Cancer is a rare disease in childhood, affecting about 100 per million children each year. In sophisticated societies where other common causes of childhood mortality have been conquered, it has become the commonest disease to kill children. Given the availability of optimal treatment, it is now possible to cure about two-thirds of children ’s cancer. The impact of the disease on the child, the family and the community from which that child comes is profound, whether the child succumbs to the disease or becomes a long-term survivor, and the economic cost of treatment, whether successful or not, is high.