Below is a list of facts about childhood cancer and CLIC Sargent.

• Every 24 hours,ten children and young people are diagnosed with cancer or leukaemia.
• Cancer in childhood remains the single largest cause of death in children agedone year or over after accidents.
• Cancer and leukaemia (when too many immature white blood cells develop in the blood or bone marrow) are the biggest childhood killer diseases in the UK.
• Cancer in childhood (between 0-15 years) is rare. It affects approximately 1 in 600-650 children.
• 50% of children will be aged under five years at diagnosis.
• 75% of children will become long-term survivors of their disease – if you take all cancers together.
• In the UK 1,500-1,700 new cases are diagnosed each year in children 0-15 years.
• A cancer survivor is someone off treatment forone year or more.
• A long-term survivor is someone off treatment for five years or more.
• 30 years ago, only 30% of children were long-term survivors of their disease.
• Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer, affecting about a third of children with cancer.
• 20% of cases diagnosed are children with brain tumours.
• There are 21 specialist children’s oncology centres in the UK.
• Many children and parents will have to travel long distances to be treated at their nearest specialist centre.
• Only 30% of young people receive age-appropriate care.
• By the end of lifeone inthree adults will have/had cancer.
• Typical adult cancers, such as lung, breast, colon, and stomach, are extremely rare in children.
• CLIC and Sargent Cancer Care for Children merged in January 2005 to become CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading children’s cancer charity.
• CLIC Sargent acts as a lifeline keeping families together when the unimaginable happens.
• CLIC Sargent provides clinical, psychosocial, emotional and financial care and support to children and young people with cancer and their families.
• CLIC Sargent is a stakeholder in NICE, committed to implementing guidelines on improving cancer services for young people.