Nearly 30% of U.S. population is under the age of 20. In this age group:
- Approximately 12,400 are diagnosed with cancer each year.
- In 1998, about 2500 died of cancer.
About
one in 300 boys and one in 333 girls
will develop cancer before the age of 20. (The distribution of boys and
girls diagnosed varies by type of
childhood cancer.)
The incidence, or frequency that cancer is diagnosed, has risen since the
1970s for some types of childhood cancer, but rates have been fairly stable in
more recent years.
Incidence by Type of Disease
The incidence of childhood cancer peaks in the first year of life.
Incidence is higher for children under five and for those ages 15-19, and
lower for children ages 5-14.
- The types of cancer most often found in young children (neuroblastoma,
Wilms tumor, retinoblastoma, ependymoma, and hepatoblastoma) are very
uncommon in adolescents (ages 15-19).
- Cancers most often diagnosed in ages 15-19 and rarely in younger
children include germ cell tumors, Hodgkins disease, and the bone
cancers.
- Cancers most commonly diagnosed in adults (lung, breast, colon and
others) rarely occur in adolescents or children.
