Global childhood cancer survival in low- and middle-income countries

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions highlight substantial variations in survival among children diagnosed with cancer across predominantly low- and middle-income countries in different world regions, in a new study. The article was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The study estimates population-based cancer survival among 16 821 cases of cancer in children younger than 15 years recorded by 47 population-based cancer registries in 23 countries and followed up for survival. Overall childhood cancer survival was higher in the included registries in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and Martinique), Central America (Costa Rica), Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa than in those in South America and sub-Saharan Africa, and survival closely tracked country Human Development Index (HDI) level. For example, 3-year survival rates for leukaemia, the most common cancer type in children, ranged from just above 30% in Kenya to almost 90% in Puerto Rico.

The marked variability in population-based survival estimates across predominantly low- and middle-income countries shows gaps in access to diagnosis and treatment and in quality of care, and it clearly points to gaps in high-quality population-based data on cancer in children. These new benchmarks provide essential reference data for the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer and highlight the critical need to support and expand population-based cancer registries in all countries as a foundation for monitoring and improving childhood cancer outcomes. The WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer aims to increase the survival rate for childhood cancer globally to at least 60% by 2030.

Daltveit DS, Morgan E, Bardot A, Steliarova-Foucher E, Damie A, Hagenimana M, et al.
Childhood cancer survival in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, during 2008–2017 (SURVCAN-3): a population-based benchmarking study of 16 821 children
J Natl Cancer Inst. Published online 15 December 2025;
https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djaf321

Read the article