Common Types of Childhood Cancer

 I'm going to do some posts that give readers a background on childhood cancer throughout the year. My goal is to do at least a few related posts every month, for sure the awareness days and months, and then some other information, news, etc. 

First, let's dive in to what types of cancers occur in children. There are many types of childhood cancer, hundreds in fact, especially when you consider subtypes. But which are the most common? In order of most to least common, by percent of childhood cancers, they are:

• Leukemias - 31%
• Brain and spinal tumors - 26%
• Lymphomas - 10%
• Soft tissue sarcomas - 7%
• Neuroblastoma - 6%
  
• Kidney tumors - 5%
• Bone tumors - 4%
• Germ cell tumors - 3%
• Retinoblastoma - 3%
• Liver tumors - 2%
• Other cancers - 4%

According to the Children's Cancer and Leukemia Society from the UK via MacMillan Cancer Support (x). All childhood cancer is considered rare, with only a few hundred per million diagnosed annually. But if you add that up over the span of a childhood, that becomes a 1 in 285 chance. Doesn't sound that rare to me.