# Childhood cancers (all types)

Source: https://onco.cc/cancers/childhood-cancers/  
OnCo record `childhood-cancers` (Cancer). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Cancer in children is rare and different from adult cancer: the common types are leukaemias, brain tumours, lymphomas and embryonal tumours such as neuroblastoma and Wilms tumour, most are curable in well-resourced health systems, and the great challenge is bringing the same cures to the majority of children who live where they are not available.

## Summary

Childhood cancers are mostly not the carcinomas of adults but leukaemias, brain and spinal cord tumours, lymphomas and embryonal tumours that arise in developing tissue: neuroblastoma, Wilms tumour, retinoblastoma, hepatoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and bone sarcomas. Decades of cooperative group trials made most of them curable in high-income countries with combination chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, and newer approaches such as CAR-T for leukaemia, anti-GD2 antibodies for neuroblastoma and targeted drugs for BRAF- or ALK-driven tumours are improving results further. Survival is far lower in low- and middle-income countries, where most children with cancer live, because of late diagnosis, abandonment of treatment and lack of drugs; the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer aims to raise survival there to at least 60% by 2030. Survivors carry lifelong late effects, so reducing treatment intensity where cure is secure is a major research theme. Adolescents and young adults (15 to 39) sit between paediatric and adult services and often do worse than either.

## Fields

- Kind: Cancer
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Also known as: Childhood Cancers; Paediatric cancers; Pediatric cancers; Cancer in children; Young Adults, Cancer in; Adolescent and young adult cancer
- Tags: paediatric; umbrella
- Group: paediatric
- Burden: About 400,000 children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 develop cancer each year worldwide (WHO); leukaemias, brain tumours and lymphomas are the commonest, and the chance of cure depends heavily on where a child lives.
- Subtypes: Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; Acute myeloid leukaemia; Brain and spinal cord tumours (medulloblastoma, gliomas, ependymoma); Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Neuroblastoma; Wilms tumour; Retinoblastoma; Hepatoblastoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas; Osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma; Germ cell tumours; Rare tumours (pleuropulmonary blastoma, ATRT and others)
- Biomarkers: Cytogenetics and minimal residual disease in leukaemia; MYCN amplification in neuroblastoma; Molecular subgroups in medulloblastoma; Germline predisposition (Li-Fraumeni, RB1, WT1 and others)

## Standard of care

- Leukaemias: Risk-stratified multi-agent chemotherapy over two to three years for ALL, with immunotherapy (blinatumomab, CAR-T) for high-risk or relapsed disease. See the ALL page. ([Blinatumomab](https://onco.cc/drugs/blinatumomab/), [Tisagenlecleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/tisagenlecleucel/))
- Solid tumours: Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy by risk group in cooperative group protocols; anti-GD2 antibody for high-risk neuroblastoma. See the neuroblastoma, Wilms, sarcoma and brain tumour pages. ([Dinutuximab (ch14.18) / dinutuximab beta](https://onco.cc/drugs/dinutuximab/))
- Survivorship: Lifelong follow-up for late effects on heart, fertility, growth and second cancers, with a survivorship care plan; trials that reduce therapy where cure rates are high. ([Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance](https://onco.cc/technologies/survivorship-care-plan/))

## Open problems

- Most children with cancer live where cure rates are below 30%.
- Late effects affect the majority of long-term survivors.
- Few new drugs are developed for children because the markets are small.

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_cancer
- NCI: Childhood cancers: https://www.cancer.gov/types/childhood-cancers
- WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer: https://www.who.int/initiatives/the-global-initiative-for-childhood-cancer

## Connected records

- cancers: [Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/all-leukemia/), [Acute myeloid leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/aml/), [Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (ATRT)](https://onco.cc/cancers/atrt/), [Burkitt lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/burkitt-lymphoma/), [Childhood lung and airway tumours (pleuropulmonary blastoma, tracheobronchial tumours)](https://onco.cc/cancers/pleuropulmonary-blastoma/), [Diffuse midline glioma, H3 K27-altered (including DIPG)](https://onco.cc/cancers/dipg-dmg/), [Ependymoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/ependymoma/), [Ewing sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/ewing-sarcoma/), [Germ cell tumours of childhood and adolescence (extracranial and CNS)](https://onco.cc/cancers/paediatric-germ-cell-tumours/), [Hepatoblastoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/hepatoblastoma/), [Hodgkin lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Medulloblastoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/medulloblastoma/), [Neuroblastoma (paediatric)](https://onco.cc/cancers/neuroblastoma/), [Osteosarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/osteosarcoma/), [Paediatric low-grade glioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/paediatric-low-grade-glioma/), [Retinoblastoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/retinoblastoma/), [Rhabdomyosarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/rhabdomyosarcoma/)
- technologies: [CAR-T cell therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/car-t/), [Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance](https://onco.cc/technologies/survivorship-care-plan/)
- targets: [CD19](https://onco.cc/targets/cd19/), [GD2 (disialoganglioside)](https://onco.cc/targets/gd2/)
- drugs: [Blinatumomab](https://onco.cc/drugs/blinatumomab/), [Dinutuximab (ch14.18) / dinutuximab beta](https://onco.cc/drugs/dinutuximab/), [Methotrexate](https://onco.cc/drugs/methotrexate/), [Naxitamab](https://onco.cc/drugs/naxitamab/), [Obecabtagene autoleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/obecabtagene-autoleucel/), [Tisagenlecleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/tisagenlecleucel/), [Tovorafenib](https://onco.cc/drugs/tovorafenib/), [Vincristine](https://onco.cc/drugs/vincristine/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/childhood-cancers.json