Adolescents with Cancer: The Influence of Close Relationships o ...

Despite the relative rarity of childhood cancer (1 or 2 children diagnosed out of 10,000, or 0.01%–0.02% of all children), it is still the chief cause of death by illness in children (American Cancer Society, 2007). The most common childhood cancer is leukemia, which accounts for approximately 30% of all cancer cases in the aforementioned age group; leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and tissues that produce the circulating blood cells (American Cancer Society, 2007). Other prevalent childhood cancers are those involving the central nervous system (22.3% of all cases), such as brain tumors or neuroblastomas (American Cancer Society, 2007). Given the important organs located within the central nervous system (i.e., brain and spinal cord), tumors in these areas have unique properties and symptoms, including nausea, dizziness, or difficulty walking (American Cancer Society, 2007). In addition, evidence suggests that tumors involving the central nervous system do not share quite as favorable prognoses and long-term outcomes as do other childhood cancers (Fuemmeler, Elkin, & Mullins, 2002; Ries et al., 1999). Cancers involving the kidneys (i.e., Wilms’ tumor), lymph nodes (i.e., Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), soft tissues (i.e., rhabdomyosarcoma), eyes (i.e., retinoblastoma), and bones (i.e., osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma) can also occur, accounting for 1.4–5.6% of all childhood cancer cases (American Cancer Society, 2007). For adolescents ages 15 to 19 years, lymphomas are the most common diagnosis, followed by leukemia (Ries et al., 1999).

Current Incidence

The American Cancer Society (2007) recently provided estimates of childhood cancer incidence in 2007. According to this data, an estimated 10,400 new cases of cancer among children ages 0 to 14 years were expected in 2007, as were 1,545 deaths, with approximately one third of these deaths attributed to leukemia (American Cancer Society, 2007).