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Erin Thibault
Professor Debra Dagher
UWRT-1102-090
13 September 2014
Pediatric Cancer
Cancer in itself is a relentless, aggressive disease. It is real, it is devastating, and it is
emotional. Pediatric cancer is perhaps the most emotional of them all. When I see the
commercials of children with cancer at St. Judes hospital telling stories about their journey I tear
up, and want to donate every penny I have to help them. This is probably the same reaction that
most people have. So why is there next to no funding for pediatric cancer? Why are there no
treatments designed specifically for children? Why do we see pink ribbons on a daily basis, but it
is a rare occurrence to spot a gold ribbon on the bumper of a car? The answer to all these
questions is that there not enough awareness about childhood cancer. I believe that by raising
more awareness, there will be more funding, and children diagnosed with cancer with have a
greater chance at a long healthy life.
Cancer is the most common cause of nonviolent death for children in the United States
(Boklan 1905). That fact absolutely astonishes me. This disease is killing our children, our
future, yet no major strides to prevent it are being taken.
September is childhood cancer awareness month. There are several different fundraises
that take place in every state across the country, but the fact of the matter is that too few people
know about and attend these fundraisers to make a difference. If there was more advertisement

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for the events, more people would know about them, and they would most likely have a better
outcome.
Neuroblastoma is an especially aggressive, unforgiving form of pediatric cancer. It is a
cancer that effects the nervous system, and has usually spread throughout the body into the
kidneys, liver, bones, and lymph nodes before being diagnosed. Survival rates among children
with neuroblastoma have paled in comparison to survival rates of all other types of cancer (Maris
2202). ra states in her essay that There is a huge need for additional and innovative treatment
modalities, in particular for children with high risk neuroblastoma (217). The lack of proper
research and funding has made research towards such critical advances come to a standstill.
Another area of pediatric cancer that is strongly affected by the amount of awareness and
funding given is the options for treatment, specifically pharmaceuticals. Treatments for pediatric
patients are the same ones used for treating adult cancer patients (Bolkan 1905). When a new
cancer drug is approved for treatment, it is used for up to two years in adult patients before it is
passed down to a clinical trial for children battling cancer. There are no trials for specific
pediatric drugs or treatments. This may not seem like a big deal, the kids are still getting the
medicine right? Yes, except that cancer in adults and children often act and respond differently.
For instance, pediatric cancers are frequently more aggressive and rapidly progressive (Boklan
1906). The main reason for this dilemma is that there are too few cases of childhood cancer,
compared to more common types like breast cancer, for pharmaceutical companies to make
money.
As of today, there is no cure for cancer of any kind. There really are not even any set in
stone causes of it. It is just a mystery, one that we may never, no matter how hard we hope or
pray, know the answers to. What we do know is that every person that learns about cancer, and

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spreads the word, helps raise the money needed to fund precious research towards a cure.
Throughout this extended inquiry project, I hope to gather information about how the amount of
awareness can help increase the survival rate of children fighting neuroblastoma. I will use
previous studies, articles, and journals to obtain this information. These children are our future,
they deserve to be able to live it. In conclusion, I ask you all to go gold, because kids get
cancer too!
.

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Works Cited
Boklan, J. "Little Patients, Losing Patience: Pediatric Cancer Drug Development." Molecular
Cancer Therapeutics 5.8 (2006): 1905-908. Print. 12 Sept. 2014.
Maris, John M. "Recent Advances in Neuroblastoma." New England Journal of Medicine 362.23
(2010): 2202-211. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
ra, I, and A Eggert. "Progress in Treatment and Risk Stratification of Neuroblastoma: Impact
on Future Clinical and Basic Research." Seminars in Cancer Biology. 21.4 (2011): 21728. Print.