Cancer is the biggest killer in children in the UK aged one to 14.
According to Cancer Research UK, there are around 220 cancer deaths in children in the UK every year; that’s more than 4 every week.
However, despite this statistic, the European Society of Paediatric Oncology released data that showed in the last 10 years, only 12 anti-cancer medicines have been authorised for specific child cancer indications, compared to over 150 for adult cancers.
Since 2023, the statistic has crawled up by a small percentage, originally at 2% in 2023. Many parents don’t think this is good enough.
Hannah, a mother whose six year old son, Bohdi, is currently receiving treatment for Leukemia after being diagnosed at three said: “I remember feeling in the first few weeks how crazy it is to find yourself wishing that your child had a certain type of Leukaemia.”
Bohdi’s treatment has left him in severe pain, which many doctors believe is from over-treatment.
Hannah said: “Even the doctors say that some children are over-treated, because of the research telling us that is what we should do.
“Bodhi has ended up with three years of treatment, but within the last two years of his intravenous therapy, he has had severe neuropathic pain which affects all areas of his life.
“He even had to cancel his birthday party because his legs were too sore.”
The disease has a profound impact on the child’s life and limits his experiences due to extreme pain.
Hannah continued: “He is struggling to go to school and he was in pain all over Christmas – he wasn’t able to hang the Christmas decoration because he was in pain and this was probably because he was overtreated – it was too much and his little body is just exhausted.
“But there’s no other choice because I am too frightened to stop it; if he comes off it and it comes back, we would have to start all over again.”
Hannah is not alone. Many parents in the UK are struggling with the funding for their child’s care and are frustrated by the lack of urgency to improve it.
Aoife Regan, director of charitable programmes and impact at Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, said: “Cancer remains the biggest killer of children aged one to 14 in the UK, yet children’s cancer continues to receive far less focus than adult cancer when it comes to research, investment and the development of new treatments.
“As advances are made in cancer research across the UK, it is vital that children are not left behind.”
When compared to adult studies, the clinical trials that test new treatments in children take 6.5 years longer on average to reach approval stage, according to the European Journal of Cancer.
The World Health Organisation has said for some medicines, the approval for use in children has been awarded 22 years after its approval for adults.
When discussing the lack of funding, Hannah said: “The statistics that children’s cancer gets significantly less funding, when they’re so little and they don’t have the environmental factors that adults have so it’s very different, it’s frustrating.
“It’s the biggest killer of our children and yet we get such a small amount in terms of research.
“So it’s just wrong.”
Hannah is now an ambassador for Leukaemia UK alongside working with her local charity Rocking Horse.
“The impact it has on children’s lives – the repeated medication, operations, injections – it changes everything for them and for the parents going through it,” Hannah said.
To donate to Great Ormond Street Hospital, please visit: gosh.org/donate
Featured image credit: Aditya Romansa via Unsplash
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