Children's cancers are rare. In the UK, only 1 in every 600 children under 15 years of age develops a cancer. This means that approximately 1700 children (up to the age of 15) in the UK are diagnosed with cancer each year. These cancers are quite different from cancers affecting adults. They tend to occur in different parts of the body, they look different under the microscope and respond differently to treatment.

Cure rates for children are much higher than for most adult cancers and over 70% of all children can now be completely cured.

Survival rates

There have been huge improvements in the treatment of children’s cancer over the past 50 years. More than 7 in 10 children with cancer are now cured, compared with fewer than 3 in 10 in 1962–66. Research is continuing to improve treatments and reduce side effects.

To compare the results of treatments, doctors use five or 10-year survival rates. Five-year survival means the percentage of patients alive five years after diagnosis.