• Childhood cancer is relatively rare In Québec; it represents approximately 1% of all cancers;
  
  
• Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related death in children and adolescents between the ages of 1 and 19;
  
  
• It is the second-leading cause of death in children and adolescents between the ages of 1 and 14;
  
  
• In 2002, approximately 250 deaths in children were attributable to cancer;
  
  
• About one in four children who are diagnosed with cancer will die of the disease;
  
  
• Presently, more than 2,000 children are living with cancer in Québec;
  
  
• 300 new cancer childhood cancer cases are diagnosed each year;
  
  
• 1 out of every 400 children is afflicted with cancer before the age of 15;
  
  
• Long-term side effects of chemotherapy treatment include: growth-related problems, learning disabilities, sterility, higher risk of secondary cancers, serious health issues leading to loss of life (30% of cases), serious short-term and long-term psycho-social and physical side effects;
  
  
• Causes of childhood cancer are still unknown.  However, it has been suggested that a genetic predisposition to the disease can play an important role in childhood cancer.  There also seems to be strong link between foetal exposure to ionising radiation and leukaemia.
  
  
• An ethyological link exists between the Epstein Barr virus and Burkitt’s Lymphoma.
  

Source:  Public Health Agency of Canada - Canadian Childhood Cancer Surveillance and Control Program. Available at http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ccdpc-cpcmc.