Childhood Cancer Survivor Study: An Overview

In 2016, it was estimated that there were 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States. As of 2015, at least 429,000 of these survivors were first diagnosed when they were under the age of 20. Advances in cancer treatment mean that today 84 percent of children diagnosed with cancer are alive at least five years after diagnosis. Many ultimately will be considered cured. As a consequence, interest is growing in the long-term health of these survivors.

Health problems that develop years later because of a cancer treatment are known as late effects. (For more information, see Late Effects of Treatment for Childhood Cancer.) The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, funded by the National Cancer Institute and other organizations, was started in 1994 to better understand these late effects, increase survival, and minimize harmful health effects. More...