About Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders

 
Cancer Kids Fund provides support, care, and comfort to kids and families coping with cancer or blood disorders. The most common forms of childhood cancer include leukemias, brain tumors, lymphomas, neuroblastomas, and bone cancers. Blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease can cause bouts of pain, damage vital organs, and for some, death in childhood or early adulthood.

Facts and Figures

• Cancer is the number-one killer of children 1-14 and the incidence of cancer among children is on the rise.
• Every year, more than 8,000 children are diagnosed with some form of cancer.  
• Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has cared for more than 1,600 children with cancer.
• Each year, more than 1,500 American children are diagnosed with hemophilia.
• Cancer Kids Fund provides services to more than 400 kids with blood disorders in the five-state area. 
• Sickle Cell Disease affects about 72,000 people in the United States, including 1 in 625 African Americans.  
• Children's Hospitals and Clinics cares for more than 150 patients with sickle cell disease.

Symptoms

Because there are so many types of cancers, the symptoms are varied. Some symptoms to watch for include:

• A change in bowel or bladder habits
• Sores that do not heal
• Unusual bleeding or discharge
• Thickening or a lump in some part of the body
• Indigestion or difficulty swallowing
• Obvious changes in a wart or mole