Save the Date - 2013 Childhood Cancer Action Day in Washington, DC

Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy (CCCA), a member of the Alliance for Childhood Cancer, is pleased to announce that this year's Childhood Cancer Action Day in Washington, DC is scheduled for June 17-18, 2013.

This year, members of the Alliance for Childhood Cancer will once again host a two-day event that includes issues and advocacy training, and pre-arranged Capitol Hill visits with Congressional representatives and their staff. Our goal: to provide the childhood cancer community - parents, children, and others - with the opportunity to visit Capitol Hill and advocate for the important childhood cancer issues currently before Congress.

Save the Date! Childhood Cancer Action Day in Washington, DC June 17-18, 2013

• Monday, June 17, 1:00 - 6:30 p.m. Training and issues presentation
• Tuesday, June 18, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Kick-off and Hill visits
• Event Participation: Online registration opens Monday, April 15th
• Hotel Reservations: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hotel Residence Inn Old Town South Carlyle, at a room rate of $218 per night. The hotel will accept reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. Ph: 703-549-1155
• Transportation to/from Childhood Cancer Action Day is the responsibility of those attending.
• More information to follow.

This year, the training will take place at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Old Town Alexandria, VA. ASCO is located just a few subway stops from Ronald Reagan National Airport, and the hotel is across the street from ASCO. The Alliance will provide buses to and from Capitol Hill on the 18th for Congressional Visits.

About the Alliance for Childhood Cancer

Founded in 2001, the Alliance for Childhood Cancer is a forum of twenty-six national patient advocacy groups, and medical and scientific organizations. These organizations meet regularly in Washington, DC to share ideas and concerns and work collaboratively to advance policies leading to improved research, public education, and diagnosis, treatment, supportive care and survivorship for children and adolescents with cancer.

On behalf of the Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy and the Alliance for Childhood Cancer, I look forward to seeing you in Washington, DC in June.

If you have any questions, please contact Maureen Lilly at 202.336.8375 or mlilly@childrenscause.org.

Childhood cancer statistics can be confusing.   Any statistics can hide or distort the truth, and even the statistics we trust may only tell part of the story.  

PAC2 has prepared an article that delves into some familiar childhood cancer statistics and attempts to determine the projected lifelong outcomes for a child diagnosed with childhood cancer in the United States today.  By lifelong outcomes, we mean what may happen over that child’s entire life--not just today or in five years, but 10, 20 or 30 years from now (which is as far as the data will let us project).  

The article estimates the likelihood of these four life-long outcomes for a child diagnosed with cancer:

Outcome #1   A child lives at least 30 years after diagnosis without chronic health conditions

Outcome #2   A child lives at least 30 years but faces mild to moderate chronic health conditions

Outcome #3   A child lives at least 30 years but faces life-threatening or disabling chronic health conditions

Outcome #4   A child dies

This analysis evaluates the outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer between 1970 and 1986. We HOPE that treatments have IMPROVED in the past 25 years and that the outcomes have changed since then, but this evaluates the available data. The results are shown below.

Click to read more: Childhood Cancer - Current Long-Term Outcomes