► Presently there are 10,000 children living with cancer in Canada today, that is 10,000 too many!
► Over 4,000 of those children are living in Ontario.
► Each year, about 1700 new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed in Canada.
► Cancer is the leading disease related cause of death among kids in Canada after the first year of life. More deaths than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and AIDS combined.
► In contrast to many of the cancers affecting adults, the causes of cancer in childhood are largely unknown.
► Leukemias, tumors of the brain and nervous system, the lymphatic system, kidneys, bones and muscles are the most common childhood cancer.
► Childhood cancers have close to a 75% cure rate, with leukemia leading the success charge with close to 90% overall cure rate.
► One in four children who are diagnosed with cancer will die of the disease.
► With a mortality rate of close to 25%, Canada loses tens of thousands of years of potential life each year to childhood cancer. In terms of potential life saved, childhood cancer ranks second only to breast cancer.
► Approximately 2/3 of survivors of childhood cancer face late effects of their disease and treatment, including neurocognitive impairments, sterility and secondary cancers.
► 1 in 330 individuals under the age of 20 will be diagnosed with a malignant disease.
