A life should be long – Children’s Cancer Institute

Children’s Cancer Institute made the following post on LinkedIn:

“Childhood cancer is not simply adult cancer in a child. Cancers in children are often different in their causes, the way they grow and spread, and how they respond to treatment.

When a child is diagnosed with cancer there is usually no known cause. This makes it very hard for parents, who are left with unanswered questions about why their child has cancer, and if there was anything they could have done to prevent it.

The lives of their entire family are thrown upside-down. Treatment can go on for years, can be very intensive and expensive, and puts an enormous strain on family life.

Childhood cancer poses two major challenges.

First: for every ten children diagnosed with cancer, tragically two don’t survive.

And second: most children who survive cancer go on to suffer long-term (sometimes life-long) health issues as a result of their treatment.

Many people are surprised to learn that almost all cancer treatments used in children today were actually developed for adults. Most of these treatments (such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy) target all rapidly growing cells (not just cancer cells), and this leads to harsh side-effects, especially in young, growing bodies.

While the overall survival rate for childhood cancer is now over 80%, for some types of cancer the rate is much lower.

In fact, there are some childhood cancers for which there are no treatments and which are uniformly fatal.

The need for more effective and safer treatments for children is urgent

This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, please consider donating to help fund the incredible research that’s underway right now at Children’s Cancer Institute and help us to find better treatment options, and ultimately a CURE for all children with cancer.

A life should be long.

Follow the link to donate today!”

Source: Children’s Cancer Institute/LinkedIn