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Common childhood cancers

Most common types

Cancer in children and young people is rare – no one knows how children and young people get cancer. Cancer in children and young people is more likely to be in developing organs and systems – such as in the blood, bones and nervous system – than in organs such as lungs.

The most common childhood cancer is leukaemia, which accounts for about a third of all cases. Brain and spinal tumours are the second most common type of cancer in children and young people – they account for about a quarter of all cases. The chart below shows the percentages of types of cancers affecting children in the UK (from Cancer Research UK, December 2004).

Percentage distribution of childhood cancer in Great Britain 1989-1998

*Cancer Research UK, December 2004

Did you know?

Cancer is the most common cause of non-accidental death in young children, teens and young adults in the UK.

  • 1 in 330 boys and 1 in 420 girls will develop cancer before their 20th birthday
  • In the last 30 years the incidence of cancer in the teenage and young adult group has increased by 50% and for the first time ever, the number of teens with cancer now exceeds the number of children with cancer

(Information from the Teenage Cancer Trust website)

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