What is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)?
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also called acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL for short, is a type of blood cancer that causes bone marrow...
What is Wilms Tumor?
Wilms tumor is a type of kidney cancer that primarily develops in children around the ages of three and four. It’s the most common type of...
What is Retinoblastoma?
In simple terms, retinoblastoma is an eye cancer that develops in the immature cells of the retina. Though it is rare—with approximately...
What is Lymphoma?
Lymphoma is a cancer of the body’s lymphatic (lymph) system which is essential to the immune system. The lymphatic system is made up of a type of white blood cells also known as lymphocytes which flow throughout the whole body. These lymphocytes fight infections throughout the body, so when cancerous cells begin to grow they can quickly spread through the entire lymph system. This then makes it difficult for the immune system to work properly. Early symptoms of lymphomas usually begin with a...
What is Ewing Sarcoma?
Ewing Sarcoma Defined Ewing sarcoma is a cancerous bone tumor that affects children, adolescent and young adults—usually developing during puberty between the ages of 10 and 20 years old. Approximately 87% of Ewing sarcomas are in the long bone, meaning the arm, thigh, shin and pelvis. On rare occasion, Ewing sarcomas can occur in soft tissue like cartilage or nerves. These are called pPNET tumors and can be found in the nerve tissue in many parts of the body; if a pPNET is found in the chest,...
What is Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor (AT/RT)?
Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor (AT/RT) is a rare and fast-growing tumor that typically originates in the brain and spinal cord. These tumors most often occur in the part of the brain called the cerebellum, which controls movement and balance, or in the brain stem, which controls vital functions like breathing and heart rate. AT/RT mainly occurs in children under the age of three, but it can occur in older children and very rarely in adults. AT/RT is found in fewer than 3% of children with...
What is Rhabdomyosarcoma?
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a type of soft tissue cancer that most commonly affects children and adolescents. It’s often found in skeletal muscle tissue or organs, such as the head and neck area, the urinary system, the reproductive system or appendages like the arms and legs. Rhabdomyosarcoma is part of a larger grouping of cancers called sarcomas which emerge in the body’s connective tissues, like muscles, fat, bones, blood vessels and joints. There are 50 different types of sarcomas. There...
What is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)?
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also called acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL for short, is a type of blood cancer that causes bone marrow to overproduce a type of white blood cells called lymphoblasts. ALL is the most common type of cancer that affects kids, accounting for roughly 30% of all cases of childhood cancer. Lymphoblasts are immature white blood cells that are responsible for identifying and destroying foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses. When someone has ALL, the bone marrow...
What is Wilms Tumor?
Wilms tumor is a type of kidney cancer that primarily develops in children around the ages of three and four. It’s the most common type of kidney cancer found in kids. Approximately 9 out of 10 kidney cancers in children are Wilms tumors, sometimes known as nephroblastoma. There are two types of Wilms tumors that are classified by their histology, or how they look microscopically: favorable histology and anaplastic histology. A Wilms tumor with favorable histology means that, while the tumor...