September is childhood cancer awareness month. This morning we talked to Barbara and her son Ethan about this important cause.

Barbara's son Ethan was diagnosed with cancer in February. Ethan's cancer, Acute Lymphoblasitc Leukemia is actually one of the most researched and most treated childhood cancers. However, Ethan is far from lucky. In the first four months after his diagnosis he spend 23 days in and out of the hospital. Some trips were scheduled but many were not. Barbara joined us today to tell us about the facts and why it's so important to give to this important cause.

·        In 2013, more than 11,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer, and about 1,300 will die from their disease.

 

 

·        Although survival rates for many childhood cancers have improved dramatically over the past few decades, cancer is still the second leading cause of death in children.

 

·        Clinical trials for childhood cancer are among the fastest and safest ways to find treatments that work against these diseases. Philanthropic support is critical to this work because it costs more to treat patients on new drug trials than insurance will reimburse.

 

 

·        Children’s cancers only get about 4% of the funding and charitable donations.

 

·        Most therapies are developed for adults and really aren’t safe for children.

     Barbara recommended these organizations if you're wanting to help!

 

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