Nearly half of all childhood cancers are not being diagnosed globally, according to a new modeling study by CHDS doctoral student Zach Ward and colleagues.
The study found that, in 2015, there were 397,000 cases of childhood cancer worldwide, but only 224,000 were diagnosed. And if health systems around the world don’t improve, the researchers estimate that 2.9 million out of 6.7 million projected childhood cancer cases – 43% – will be missed between 2015 and 2030.
“Our model suggests that nearly one in two children with cancer are never diagnosed and may die untreated,” said Zach Ward. “This new model provides specific estimates of childhood cancer that have been lacking.”
The authors hope that their findings will help guide health systems in setting new policies to improve diagnosis and management of childhood cancers.
Read media coverage from BBC Newsday, Nature, The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, US News & World Report, Le Figaro, Japan Times, and Healthday.
The CHDS Media Hub collaborated with Ward to design and produce side-car media products which explain the methodology and results to different audiences. Watch a video created about the study with Ward and Rifat Atun, senior author and professor of global health systems. Video production credit: Jake Waxman, CHDS Media Hub.
More about the CHDS Media Hub
The CHDS Media Hub combines a physical brainstorming space with a laboratory-like digital environment to prototype, pilot and produce educational multimedia for teaching, learning and policy translation.
Learn more: Read the full article in The Lancet Oncology.
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