Childhood Cancer Facts

In the United States, cancer is the number 1 killer of children by disease. On average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer, and the average high school has two students who have or have had cancer.  Each day 43 children in the United States, including 8 children in Houston, are diagnosed with cancer. Currently, one in every 285 Americans develops cancer during childhood or adolescence before the age of 20. Childhood cancer occurs randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region. Candlelighters helps those families who face the devastating diagnosis of childhood cancer.

The Eight Warning Signs of Childhood Cancer

  1. Continued, unexplained weight loss
  2. Headaches with vomiting in the morning
  3. Increased swelling or persistent pain in bones joints
  4. Lump or mass in abdomen, neck or elsewhere
  5. Development of a whitish appearance in the pupil of the eye
  6. Recurrent fevers not due to infection
  7. Excessive bruising or bleeding
  8. Noticeable paleness or prolonged tiredness