Children and Young Adults

Hearing that your child has cancer is terrifying. Today, however, most childhood blood cancer patients can expect to have full and productive lives. Thanks to new and improved therapies, survival rates for childhood blood cancer have improved significantly over the past several decades. In addition, doctors, nurses and researchers continue to search for the causes of childhood leukemia and lymphoma to develop even be...

As a young adult with cancer, you will likely face challenges specific to your age group (ages 18-39). We are here to help.

The information in the Caring for Kids And Adolescents with Blood Cancer workbook is written for the parent/guardian of a minor child (up to age 18), and includes information about caring for your child, treatment options, school, nutrition, financial and legal issues, and more. This Family Workbook includes a set of set of worksheets and activities and includes a tote, journal, pen and pill organizer. Caregivers ...

Treatment for childhood blood cancer may consist of chemotherapy and other drug therapies and may also include radiation therapy or allogeneic stem cell transplantation. There are risks for long-term and late effects common to all of these treatments, and these may include problems with learning, fatigue, bone or joint pain and an increased risk for developing a secondary cancer.  Some long-term and late effe...

Once your child’s disease is in remission, the pediatric hematologist-oncologist will continue to monitor your child’s response to treatment and check for signs of relapse. Members of the healthcare team can also help manage any side effects that continue after treatment. It is very important to keep all follow-up appointments, even if your child is feeling well. During the first year after treatment, your chi...

Awareness and discussion of end-of-life issues is an important aspect of care for any serious illness and helps improve quality of life. Talk to your child’s healthcare team about treatment goals and any concerns you have related to prognosis, treatment outcomes and end-of-life care.
Although treatments for children with cancer have improved, some children do die of their disease or complications related...

On this Page: Resources for Children, Young Adults and Parents Resources for Healthcare Professionals
  Resources for Children, Young Adults and Parents One-on-One Support Information Specialists are social workers, nurses and health educators with expertise in blood cancers who  provide personalized support to patients, caregivers and families. Registered Dietitians&...

Childhood Blood Cancers From 2012 to 2016, the most recent 5 years for which data are available, leukemia and lymphoma accounted for 38.7 percent of all cancer types in children, adolescents and young adults younger than 20 years. The most common types of cancer in children, adolescents and young adults younger than 20 years are leukemia (24.7 percent), cancers of the brain and other nervous tissue (17.2 perc...