Childhood Cancer Awareness Month 2024

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is highlighting some of the research areas that IARC scientists are working in, to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month 2024, and will post news items, infographics, and videos during the month of September to offer insights into how and why IARC focuses on these aspects of childhood cancer.

IARC scientists are engaged with partners at the international, regional, and relatively local levels in their studies on paediatric cancers. Locally, IARC is part of South-ROCK, an integrated centre of excellence in childhood cancer research based in Lyon and Marseille, France. Activities at the regional level include IARC’s recently released review of the prevalence of childhood cancer survivors in Europe. Internationally, IARC researchers are supporting global initiatives to standardize and improve registration of childhood cancers, research projects to define molecular profiles of childhood cancer cases, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.

The cancer types that occur most often in children are very different from the cancer types that occur mainly in adults. Worldwide, more than 275 000 children and adolescents (aged 0–19 years) are estimated to be diagnosed with cancer per year. Leukaemia, brain cancers, and lymphomas are the most common types overall. Young children also develop tumours specific to their young age, such as neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, or kidney tumours. Preventing these cancer types is difficult because the causes are not yet well understood.

Visit the IARC website and social media channels regularly throughout September to learn more about the above-mentioned projects and others.

IARC News items

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month 2024

IARC marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month 2024: new project focused on Africa

How many childhood cancer survivors are there in Europe, and why does it matter? Video with Dr Neimar De Paula Silva

IARC marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month 2024: building regional capacity

Video

How many childhood cancer survivors are there in Europe, and why does it matter?

Dr Neimar De Paula Silva of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) presents a review of published estimates of the number of people in Europe who have survived childhood cancer and outlines the work that IARC is leading to get a more accurate picture of this population.

IARC News items

Video

How many childhood cancer survivors are there in Europe, and why does it matter?

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