Pediatric Cancer is on the rise.

Most people probably think that, with all our advanced technology and medicine, we are winning the war on childhood cancer. In fact, incidence for all types of cancer is going up, not down. It is projected that in the next 20 years, cancer will pass heart disease as the #1 killer of Americans.

The most common form of pediatric cancer is leukemia. In the last 35 years, the incidence of Acute Myeloid Leukemia has increased a staggering 42% and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia has risen by 35%.

Now, it’s true that today’s treatments are much more successful, but they are no less brutalizing on children and their families. The side effects of treatment and the emotional and financial costs to the survivors can be devastating. Treatment for leukemia often includes chemotherapy- delivered via intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, and even directly into the spine- over the course of 2-3 years. The side effects of these treatments are the most common cause of a child not surviving a diagnosis. If they manage to survive the treatment, the long term effects include a greater chance of acquiring a secondary cancer or recurrence of the primary cancer.

This is why we must devote effort into primary prevention. That means reducing the INCIDENCE of pediatric cancer.

As it stands, only 4% of all cancer research goes into studying pediatric cancer. But that is not the real problem. The real problem is that almost all of that research is dedicated to diagnosis, treatments and support for families who are in treatment. And while those are vital targets for charitable efforts, they do nothing to prevent another child from receiving the life-shattering diagnosis of cancer.

 The StormStrong Foundation is one of the ONLY charitable nonprofits to establish this as its primary goal. When you support us, you are helping to potentially free a family from ever hearing the news that would forever change their lives.

We have partnered with The Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment (CIRCLE), out of the University of California, Berkeley. CIRCLE is a Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center jointly funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

CIRCLE seeks to discover how environmental exposures and genetics interact to cause childhood leukemia in an effort to prevent the disease.