The National Children’s Cancer Society Releases White Paper Detailing Key Points of the New Children’s Cancer Research Landscape Report
St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) January 09, 2017 -- The highlights of the Children’s Cancer Research Landscape Report are collected in a white paper published by The National Children’s Cancer Society (NCCS), a nonprofit organization that helps children with cancer and their families from diagnosis to survivorship.
The American Cancer Society and Alliance for Childhood Cancer compiled the report, “Translating Discovery into Cures for Children with Cancer.” The report includes statistics, trends, a current list of treatment drugs, details about ongoing pediatric cancer clinical trials, and research as well as information about long-term survival. The report is the first time that comprehensive information about childhood cancers has been brought together with a critical analysis of both the challenges and opportunities for prevention and treatment.
The NCCS white paper outlines the reports key findings in the following areas: incidence and mortality, child-adult differences, long-term survival, biological causes of late effects of treatment, preclinical and clinical drug research, pediatric specific requirements of research, federal funding of drug research, and economic forces affecting research funding.
Among the report’s many findings is the identification of gaps in care for survivors as they move into adulthood, an area that the NCCS focuses on through it’s Beyond the Cure program. More than one in three survivors aged 35 or older have experienced health effects considered severe or life threatening, including death. Called “late effects,” these can be physical, emotional or cognitive problems, often lifelong, that are typically caused by the drugs used to treat childhood cancer. This happens because treatments occur during a vulnerable period of a child’s development. Longer survival times mean more time for late effects to impact a childhood cancer survivor’s health, the report explains.
Research into long-term care and late effects among childhood cancer survivors is critical in order to properly address their needs and identify risks associated with newer treatments.
“Families are often unprepared for dealing with late effects,” explained Mark Stolze, president and CEO of the NCCS. “Many don’t even realize that the problems their child is having several years after ending treatment are directly related to the treatment they received.
“Because the NCCS offers resources to families dealing with late effects, we continually seek new information about treatment drugs and challenges that survivors face so that we can better help them identify, treat and ultimately overcome those challenges.” That’s the reason, Stolze added, that the NCCS felt it important to share the landscape report’s findings with the families who depend on the organization for support.
About The National Children’s Cancer Society
The mission of The National Children's Cancer Society is to provide emotional, financial and educational support to children with cancer, their families and survivors. To learn more about the NCCS and its support services, visit thenccs.org. The National Children’s Cancer Society is a 501C(3) organization that has provided over $63 million in direct financial assistance to more than 40,000 children with cancer. To contact the NCCS, call (314) 241-1600. You can also find the NCCS on Facebook and Twitter.
Lori Millner, The National Children's Cancer Society, https://thenccs.org/, +1 314-446-5247 Ext: 247, [email protected]
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