When a family receives the devastating news that their child has cancer, one of the first questions they usually ask is “How is that possible, they’re just a child?”

The first thing to bear in mind is that there is no one to blame – in many cases, the causes of childhood cancer remain unknown or unclear. At such times, additional support provided to families by associations and other organisations is essential.

Although they share a name, childhood tumours cannot be regarded simply as an early form of adult tumours. They have different biological origins, affect different tissues, and do not follow the same clinical course. This means childhood cancers must be studied and treated as diseases in their own right.

While lung, colon, breast, prostate and stomach cancers are the most common in adults, the most frequent in children are leukaemia, brain tumours, lymphomas and neuroblastomas. These conditions affect different tissues and follow their own biological patterns.

Furthermore, children usually have a better prognosis than adults. Approximately eight out of ten children diagnosed with cancer will survive the disease. In the adult population, the overall survival rate is around 50%.

All of this means we must view childhood cancer as a distinct condition. But what causes........

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