Childhood cancer survival rates rise again

Survival rates for children with cancer continue to improve thanks to better diagnostics, more effective treatments and scientific research. The Princess Máxima Center and Stichting Kinderen Kankervrij (KiKa) announced the figures at the start of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Of the children diagnosed with cancer between 2010 and 2014, 83.2% were still alive ten years later. Among children diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2004, this figure was 77.1%. The survival figures were compiled by the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL).

‘It is good to see that survival rates for children with cancer in the Netherlands continue to improve,’ says Edward Nieuwenhuis, Chief Medical Officer at the Princess Máxima Center. ‘This is mainly due to better diagnostics and increasingly effective treatments, made possible by advances in scientific research. The prognosis has improved significantly, particularly for children with acute myeloid leukemia and certain brain tumors. We hope that the unique integration of care and research at the Princess Máxima Center, since it was established in 2018, will contribute to further improvements in survival in the years ahead.’

Research is crucial

One of the main factors behind the continued improvement in survival rates is progress in childhood cancer research and the development of more effective treatments with fewer side effects. This is mainly due to an increase in research studies and clinical trials.

Over the past 20 years, more funding has become available for this in the Netherlands, with the establishment of KiKa playing a crucial role. The Princess Máxima Center Foundation and a large group of partners are now also essential in providing this support. This funding is needed because scientific research and clinical trials are not covered by regular funding from the government and health insurance companies.

‘Before KiKa was founded in 2002, there was hardly any funding available for childhood cancer research,’ says Jakolien van Eijk, Managing Director of KiKa. ‘That has changed. Thanks to the support of our donors, KiKa has now funded more than 300 research studies, and we provide the Princess Máxima Center with core funding each year. This helps all research groups continue their important work. It is wonderful to see that this is helping more and more children with cancer recover, and that people throughout the Netherlands are contributing to this.’

New developments improve survival rates

Of the children diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) between 2010 and 2014, 74% were still alive ten years later. Between 2000 and 2004, the survival rate for children with AML was 57%. Over the same period, survival among children with a brain tumor increased from 67% to 80%.

Survival rates for children with acute myeloid leukemia have improved in part because a better understanding of the disease has led to more targeted treatments. Doctors can also better determine which children are eligible for a stem cell transplant, while the outcomes of stem cell transplants have also improved in recent years. Fewer children are dying from treatment side effects, and treatment has improved for children whose AML returns.

There is still much to be done

Although survival rates for these diseases have improved, the prognosis for children with difficult-to-treat tumors, such as high-grade brain tumors, neuroblastoma and certain bone tumors, remains very poor. About four in ten children with neuroblastoma and one-third of children with the bone tumor osteosarcoma still die within ten years of diagnosis. There is currently no cure for children with brainstem cancer, a type of high-grade brain tumor.

Nieuwenhuis says: ‘The improved survival figures are encouraging, of course, but one in six children with cancer still does not survive the disease. Every child with a poor prognosis is one too many. We therefore need to continue investing in research and innovative care solutions so that, in the future, we can also offer hope to children with these forms of cancer.’

The close collaboration between research and care at the Princess Máxima Center means that new knowledge is applied directly to the treatment of children with cancer. In the future, this will continue to make an important contribution to the shared mission of the Máxima Center and KiKa: to cure every child with cancer, with optimal quality of life.

‘That is why we will continue working together with the Máxima Center for children with cancer in the years ahead. This will allow us to support as much research as possible,’ Van Eijk adds. ‘Not only so that every child can recover, but also to reduce the serious consequences of the disease and its treatment in the future, such as fertility problems or developing cancer again.’