According to reports, the 5-year survival rate for children with cancer is at approximately 80%. At a glance, this looks like promising advancements in childhood cancer treatments. After all, according to the National Cancer Institute, this is an improvement from the 58% 5-year survival rate we would have seen 35 years ago. However, this statistic doesn’t show us the bigger picture–what happens to the surviving children after 5 years–what are the long term effects of childhood cancer treatments and what are the expected long term outcomes for those who fought childhood cancers.
People Against Childhood Cancer, (PAC2), recently published an article Childhood Cancer- Long Term Outcomes, in which they explored and analyzed the most recent available data provided by the Children’s Oncology Group and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. The intent of this analysis and article was to uncover the lifelong outcomes for children affected by childhood cancer. Here are a few of their findings.
According to their article, an estimated 13,500 children will be diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. As reports show, 2,700 (20%) of those children will lose their life to cancer within the first 5 years-leaving 10,800 (80%) survivors. According to the data, PAC2 estimated that 8,000 (73%) of those survivors will face long term chronic health conditions and/or death after 5 years. Of this group an estimated 2,000 (18%) will die within years 6-30; 2,500 (24%) will suffer life threatening or disabling illnesses; and 3,300 (31%) will suffer mild to moderate health conditions.
In other words, of all children diagnosed with cancer, , one in three (33%) will lose their live to cancer over the course of 30 years, and one in five (20%) will battle life-threatening or disabling chronic health conditions for life. This is a little different picture than that displayed in the promising 80% 5-year survival rate. For the full article, Childhood Cancer-Long Term Outcomes, visit People Against Childhood Cancer
A quote from their website, “Every day 7 children die from childhood cancer within five years of being diagnosed AND every day 5 children that have survived 5-years from diagnosis die from the original cancer, a secondary cancer, or other long-term effects”.