Childhood Cancer Deaths
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

 Good news. The childhood cancer death rate seems to be decreasing.   Dr. Ken Davis tells us more in today’s 60 Second Housecall.

Cancer deaths among children and teens in the United States have become less common in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Thanks to advances in cancer treatment for children, the childhood cancer death rate decreased by 1.7 percent per year from 1990 to 2004.

During those years, approximately 35,000 children and teens in the U.S. died of cancer.  During that same time frame, the number of children with cancer cases rose by around 1 percent per year.

The CDC credited chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and other cancer treatments for the improved survival.

For 2004, leukemia was the leading cause of childhood cancer death. Cancers of the brain ranked second.

Childhood deaths from leukemia declined by 3 percent per year, and childhood deaths from cancers of the brain fell by 1 percent annually from 1990 to 2004.  Research in childhood cancer treatments seems to be paying off.

For North Mississippi Medical Center, I’m Dr. Ken Davis.