Home > Encyclopedia of Cancer > Childhood Cancers

Definition

Childhood cancers are malignant diseases that affect children under the age of 18 years.

Description

Cancer in children (pediatric cancers) differs from cancer in adults in several important ways. The most important difference is that children have generally better prognoses than do adults. Two-thirds of children with cancer are cured of the disease. Still, despite enormous progress in the treatment of childhood cancer since the 1960s, it is the second-most common cause of death in children older than one year, with accidents being the first.

One difference between pediatric and adult cancer is found in the cells in which the cancers originate. Many adult cancers begin in specific...