Types of childhood cancer

Childhood cancers are quite different from cancers affecting adults.

They tend to occur in different parts of the body, they look different under the microscope and they respond differently to treatment.

Relative contributions of main diagnostic groups of childhood cancer to overall incidence among children aged 0 to 14 years, Great Britain, 2001 to 2005
Based on data provided by National Registry of Childhood Tumours
(http://www.ccrg.ox.ac.uk/datasets/registrations.htm)

Leukaemia

Leukaemia is a cancer of the blood. They are the most common type of childhood cancer, accounting for almost one third of cases.

Read more: Childhood leukaemia

Brain and spinal tumours (CNS tumours)

Brain and spinal tumours (or central nervous system, CNS tumours) are the most common solid tumours to occur in children, with around 390 new cases a year in Britain.

CNS tumours arise from different types of cells and are classified and named according to the cells in which they began.

Read more: Brain and spinal tumours (CNS tumours)

Lymphomas

Lymphomas are cancers which start in the lymphatic system. They account for around 10 per cent of childhood cancer cases – 160 cases a year in Britain.

Read more: Lymphomas

Soft tissue sarcomas

Sarcomas are rare types of cancer that develop in the supporting tissues of the body, such as bone, muscle or cartilage. There are two main types of sarcoma.

Read more: Soft tissue sarcomas

Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid tumour in childhood, accounting for six per cent of all childhood cancers, just under 100 children a year in Britain.

Neuroblastoma is the most common type of embryonal tumour. It is a cancer of specialised nerve cells, called neural crest cells. These cells are involved in the development of the nervous system and other tissues.

Read more: Neuroblastoma

Renal tumours

Around 90 children are diagnosed with renal tumours every year in Britain – 6 per cent of all childhood cancer registrations.

Ninety per cent of these renal tumours are Wilms tumour (also known as nephroblastoma).

Read more: Renal tumours

Bone tumours

Around 65 children are diagnosed with bone tumours ever year in Britain, 4 per cent of all childhood cancers.

There are two main types of bone tumour that affect children - osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma of bone.

Read more: Bone tumours

Gonadal and germ-cell tumours (GCT)

Germ cells are the cells which develop into sperm and eggs.

Germ cell tumours (GCT) are a diverse group of tumours. They can occur in different parts of the body and there are several distinct sub-types.

Read more: Germ-cell tumours

Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of the eye (the retina). It is very rare, affecting around 40 children a year in Britain – about 3 per cent of all childhood cancer cases.

Read more: Retinoblastoma

Hepatic tumours

Tumours of the liver are rare in childhood; around 18 children are diagnosed each year in Britain, about one per cent of all childhood cancers.

Eighty per cent of childhood hepatic tumours are hepatoblastomas, a type of embryonal tumour; the remainder are hepatic carcinomas.

Read more: Hepatic tumours

Other carcinomas and melanomas

Most carcinomas and melanomas are characteristically cancers of adulthood and, even within childhood, the incidence increases steeply with age; two thirds of affected children are in the oldest category (10 to 14 years).

The group of ‘other’ carcinomas (which excludes carcinomas of the kidney, liver and gonads) and melanomas accounts for 3.3 per cent of childhood cancers.

Read more: Other carcinomas and melanomas

Related Topics types of childhood cancer, childhood cancer