Deaths from childhood cancer fall by up to 74 per cent in a decade

Doctors are winning the battle against childhood cancer, with deaths plummeting over the last decade. But health experts say there is more work to do.

Scientific breakthroughs have helped cut some childhood cancer death rates by as much as 74 per cent, new figures show 

Deaths from childhood cancer have fallen by up to 74 per cent in the last decade because of drug breakthroughs and advances in treatments, figures have shown.

A decade ago, around 330 children died from cancer each year. But that figure has now dropped to 260, a fall of around 22 per cent overall.

But for some cancers the success has been far more pronounced. Death rates for chronic myeloid leukaemia have fallen by 74 per cent; Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma by 35 per cent and liver cancer by 26 per cent.

Ten years ago more than 100 children each year died from all forms of leukaemia, the most commonly diagnosed children’s cancer. But that has now fallen to just over 50.

However health experts say they are concerned that brain and bone cancers have only seen marginal improvements.

Professor Pam Kearns, director of the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit in Birmingham, said: “It’s very encouraging to see that fewer children are dying of cancer, but a lot more needs to be done.

“There are still a number of cancers where progress has been limited – such as brain tumours.

“Many children who survive cancer will live with the long-term side effects of their treatment that can have an impact throughout their adult lives, so it’s vital that we find kinder and even more effective treatments for them.”

Much of this success is due to tackling childhood cancers by combining a number of different chemotherapy drugs. Imaging and radiotherapy techniques have also dramatically improved in the past decade so that tumours can be accurately located and targeted.

Around 1,600 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK. Overall survival for childhood cancer has tripled since the 1960s, and three quarters of children with cancer are now cured.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive said, 
“We’ve made great progress in helping more and more children survive cancer than ever before, but this work is not finished – better, kinder treatments must continue to be our target. Our researchers are making great strides every year to help even more children beat the disease.

September is Children’s Cancer Awareness Month and Cancer Research UK has teamed up with TK Maxx to fund a new clinical trial to improve survival for children and young people with a type of brain tumour called ependymoma.

Ependymomas are the third most common childhood brain tumour. About half the children diagnosed are under five years old. 
Generally, about 43 out of 100 children (43 per cent) diagnosed with ependymoma will not survive longer than five years.

Professor Richard Grundy, from the University of Nottingham, said: “Cancer Research UK has made clinical trials possible that have led to great improvements in treatments for childhood cancers.
However, ependymoma brain tumours are exceptionally difficult to treat and survival rates remain poor.

“It’s fantastic that Cancer Research UK and TK Maxx are funding this international clinical trial. Importantly, we will link our new trial to the vital lab work that will help us understand more about the disease in the hope we can help more children survive this type of brain tumour.”

Source:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/11066359/Deaths-from-childhood-cancer-fall-by-up-to-74-per-cent-in-a-decade.html