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Cancers which affect children Children's cancers are quite different from the cancers which affect adults. Children’s cancers tend to occur in different parts of the body and viewed under a microscope they look quite different and their response to treatment is also different. These are the cancers diagnosed in children - Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
About children's cancer research There have been tremendous advances in the diagnosis, management and treatment of children's cancers in the last four decades. We have moved from a situation where cancer in children was almost uniformly fatal. In the 1960's around the world fewer than 3 in 10 children survived cancer. Now cure rates for children are much higher than for most adult cancers - over 70% of all children can now be cured. (NB: To compare the results of treatments, doctors use five or 10-year survival rates. Five-year survival means the percentage of patients alive five years after diagnosis.) The human genome project has opened new avenues of research into cellular resistance while the latest molecular and imaging techniques are adding to the accuracy and precision of diagnosis. These advances mean we are now able to look at improving treatments and minimising toxicity to reduce side effects, improving quality of life and researching causes and prevention. Research will continue to improve treatments and reduce side effects. What is ACRF doing about cancers in children
In June 2007 , a single grant of $3.1 million from ACRF has established a dedicated childhood cancer drug discovery unit at the Children's Cancer Institute Australia . The grant was made possible by a generous bequest from the Estate of the Late B M McDonnell. In 2006 the ACRF awarded a $1.14 million grant to the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland. In 2005 ACRF provided $1 million for a fit-out of the new Children’s Cancer Centre Research Laboratories as part of a $20million capital works program at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute . In 2003 $500,000 was awarded by ACRF to the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia for Medical Research to establish a new drug discovery program. The new laboratories (see pic), which opened recently, are devoted to the design, synthesis and testing of novel anti-cancer compounds that inactivate a tumour’s blood supply and thereby restrict its growth. A new $2.5 million grant for children's cancer research, made possible by the generosity of the Estate of the late Berenice M McDonnell, is a strong commitment by ACRF to make sure the improvements keep coming. Funding applications are welcome. Click here for Guidelines and criteria . Click here to view all ACRF's research grant awards. We invest in innovations that really matterTo make a credit card donation by phone, call 1300 884 988 for the cost of a local call
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Children's cancers, which affect children aged 15 and under, are rarer than adult cancers. Yet for children with cancer and their families a cancer diagnosis is very deeply distressing. 
Of course 70% survival for children with cancer is still not good enough. But it is so important that high quality research projects into cancers affecting children continue to get major funding.  All donations over $2 are tax deductible |