Cancer rates in children are on the rise

Childhood cancer rates are rising in Australia, but death rates have declined by 38% over the last two decades, as new figures from Cancer Council Queensland show.

Every year, approximately 770 children aged 14 and under are diagnosed with cancer in Australia and 100 die of it. Although many cancers have been successfully treated, survival rates for some brain and liver cancers have increased little.

New data from the Australian Childhood Cancer Registry, independently managed and funded by the Queensland Cancer Council, was released today on the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day.

Queensland Cancer Council Chief Chris McMillan said the findings reinforce the need for further research to help reduce the burden of illness in children.

"The cancer incidence rate among children has increased by 34% in the 33 years between 1983 and 2015," Ms. McMillan said.

"Leukemia is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in Australian children, accounting for about a third of all cases."

Ms. McMillan said that although cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children over one year of age, survival rates improve dramatically.

"The five-year relative survival for childhood cancer has continued to improve over the last three decades in Australia, with strong improvements seen in children with multiple types of cancer," Ms. McMillan said.

"However, there is still work to be done, with little or no improvement in the survival of children with certain types of brain or liver cancer.

"Awareness and additional funding are needed to ensure a future in which suffering will be significantly reduced for all types of childhood cancer."

Ms. McMillan encouraged all Queensland families affected by cancer to ask for help.

"The impact of childhood cancer goes far beyond the numbers. It is a tragic moment when a family learns that their child has cancer and that the burden goes beyond the mere physical impact: it can affect finances, emotional stability, mental health and aspects of life ", she said.

Slater Clifton, a four-year-old from Gold Coast, was diagnosed at 17 months with an ependymoma of the posterior fossa – a malignant brain tumor.

"The doctors said that, at best, Slater had a 20% chance of reaching the age of 7. This prognosis is devastating," said his mother, Bianca Walker.

"The tumor is still present and quite large, the doctors could only remove 80 %.His little body was ravaged by intense chemotherapy.

"While it's fantastic to hear that infant cancer survival rates are improving, brain cancer requires more research and funding." I will never give up hope that a treatment be found for him in time.I hope everything I have. "