Childhood cancer is a term used to describe cancers that occur between birth and 14 years of age. Childhood cancers are very rare and may differ from adult cancers in the way they grow and spread, how they are treated, and how they respond to treatment.

When a child is diagnosed with cancer there is usually no known cause. This makes it very hard for parents, who are left with unanswered questions about why their child has cancer, and if there was anything they could have done to prevent it.

The lives of their entire family are thrown upside-down. Treatment can go for years, can be very intensive and expensive, and puts an enormous strain on family life. When a child dies, an average of 70 potential years of life are lost.

Of those who do survive, two-thirds will have significant long-term treatment side effects, including organ dysfunction, neurocognitive deficits, impaired fertility, and secondary malignancies.