Childhood cancers across North America

Everyone wants good news, and yes, cancer treatments—however harsh— are saving more lives.
Unfortunately however, across North America larger proportions of children are developing cancers.

Prevention — The Cure everyone wants and needs

Thanks to committed physicians and scientists working with billions of dollars in funding , knowledge of cancer biology and treatment is improving children’s survival to adulthood.

Medical miracles prolong lives, but how many kids are developing cancer?

Two publications in 2025 revealed the dismal news:
Increasing proportions of children—too many—are developing cancer in Canada and the USA.

Derived from Prevalence of childhood cancer in Canada, Health Canada 2025.

Trends in childhood cancer: Incidence and survival analysis over 45 years of USA SEER data

American data illustrates the same trends. The USA has been collecting and analysing cancer data much longer than Canada. They report that most of the cancer increases are seen in the blood and brain: lymphoid leukemia, astrocytoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Why is more cancer developing at ever-younger ages?
Many harmful exposures lurk in our modern lives.
Worse, many chemicals, including in plastics and pesticides, mimic hormones. These not only increase immediate cancer risks; they can also affect the unborn child, and increase risks in coming generations.

Solutions: Make least-toxic the norm
Individuals and families need the safest solutions for daily life.
We advocate for best practices, processes and products to achieve essential ends. How ingenious are, plastic-free, pesticide-free, climate-friendly solutions!
Sometimes it’s best to, “Just say ‘no’.”

A few examples include:
– organic agriculture;
– distributed electrical energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, run-of-river) rather than nuclear or fossil fuels;
– wired telecommunications;
– fragrance-free products;
– including “essentiality” in regulatory decision-making;
– enforcing bans of carcinogens and hormone mimics, and advancing safe-by-design products;
– banning toxins such as fluorinated and chlorinated chemicals;
– restricting sunscreens to safest formulations, without risky UV filters
 and
– waste minimization with minimal packaging, and maximizing product durability, reuse and recycling (and not incineration).

Prevent Cancer Now applies its expertise and voice to help all of us make healthier choices.
We aim to prevent pollution, including from extractive industries, greenhouse gases.
We promote “safe-by-design”, minimizing exposures to chemicals and radiation, and enabling refinement in everything from food production, and personal and household products, to renewable energy and safest technologies.
We advocate to politicians and government officials, educate the public, and support groups and communities impacted by harmful exposures, with ethical advocacy founded on science.

Longer term solutions lie in legal and regulatory reform, to identify and mandate safest alternatives. 

If this resonates and you want to be part of solutions, please email Info@PreventCancerNOW.ca.