A recent research report shows that children’s cancer has grown 40 per cent in just 16 years, with colorectal cancer growing a whopping 200 per cent. Leukaemia, lymphoma and brain cancer remain the three largest children's cancers. But clearly, cancer is becoming less and less an ‘old person’s disease’ as some cancer charities would have you believe.
According to the 2016 report, this dramatic growth rate is a sign of the times as junk food, electronic gadgets and their consequent EMF pollution, lack of physical activity, increased obesity, greater sugar consumption, nutritionally poor packaged, junk food diets, antibiotic usage and environmental pollution all combine to take their toll. The charity Children with Cancer pulled together the data using 1998 - 2014 data.
Interestingly, the American cancer Society says there is little evidence of inherited DNA change and these cancers are more to do with what happens to the child early in life and even before birth!
Other sources provide the numbers - in the 1-14 age group::
Leukaemia is 28% of all child cancers, with ALL and AML the top two.
Brain and spinal cord cancers are 26% with a further 6% occuring in nerve cells
Lymphoma is 8% of all child cancer with NHL twice the level of Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Soft tissue Sarcoma is 4%
Hodgkin's lymphoma may only be 3% below age 14 but is 12% of all cancer in the 15-19 age group, with NHL also at 12%. Both are known to be linked to toxins.
Colorectal cancer grew by 200% - it tripled – as poorer diets affected the health of the young, while thyroid cancer, commonly attributed to environmental toxins, doubled.
Professor Henshaw of Bristol University and scientific adviser to the charity,quoted the data on child leukaemia and its links to Electromagnetic pollution.
However, other experts, such as Professor Mel Greaves (2), have shown less breast feeding, more Caesarean births, babies born to stressed or ill mothers, babies born to overweight mothers and/or early antibiotics can all lead to a poorer microbiome and poorer health in children. But, of course, poor diet and lack of exercise is on the increase.
5,000 children develop cancer each year in the UK. Child brain cancer still remains almost impossible to cure using the conventional, orthodox medicine available today in UK hospitals.
Also, drug treatments can damage children for life. CANCERactive has carried research that showed that amongst survivors of child leukaemia, there were higher rates of depression and suicide (1), and higher incidence of second cancers (especially following the use of Etoposide, Cyclophosphamide and Doxorubicin).
St Jude's Children's Hospital in the USA covers the latter point and makes suggestions on how to reduce risk (3).
Interestingly, many of the causes identified in the 2016 report for children, such as pollution and EMF pollution are ignored by major cancer charities when talking about adult cancers as well as child cancer.
Chris Woollams, Founder of CANCERative and former Oxford University Biochemist said, "Seeing these figures is desperately sad. As a father who lost his daughter to a brain tumour, I understand fully the issues raised here especially with EMFs, mobile phones and so on. I well remember Catherine saying ’Why did no one tell us in school?’
At CANCERactive, we have prevention leaflets readers can print off and take into schools for that very reason".
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References
1. Health Related quality of life amongst survivors of children's cancer (J. Clin. Oncol 2006 24: 3852-57)
2. Mel Greaves, microbiome and ALL.