Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: September 2025

The Reality of Childhood Cancer

Cancer is usually considered a disease of older people - in fact, the majority of cancer cases in Wales occur in people aged 65 and over. Incidences of cancer in children and young people are thankfully rare, but they still have a crushing impact on the individuals and their families.

Fortunately, survival rates for children’s cancers tend to be high, with the most recent data showing that around 84% of children survive at least 5 years after their diagnosis.

Accordingly, children account for only 0.3% of cancer deaths in the UK each year. However, no matter how encouraging the numbers are, many families still face the devastation of losing a child to cancer. 

There is still more that needs to be done to prevent young lives from being cut short.

A New Study on Brain Tumours

Cancer Research Wales is proud to be funding a new study on brain tumours in children, which has the long-term goal of enhancing our understanding and allowing more accurate and personalised care. 

Brain tumours account for more than a quarter of childhood cancers and are a leading cause of cancer death in children, so they represent a key area for research.

Currently, many children diagnosed with a type of brain tumour called low-grade glioma (LGG) can be successfully treated with surgery to remove their tumour. 

However, a significant proportion of patients relapse, where the tumour returns and can cause debilitating issues including visual impairment, hormone problems and epilepsy. 

Current tests are frequently unable to identify which patients will suffer relapse and which are ‘cured’, so there is a real need for better testing.

Advanced Imaging Technology

In the Cancer Research Wales funded project, led by Dr Madeleine Adams of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales, a state-of-the-art MRI scanner will be used to generate images of LGG in more detail than has been possible before. 

The scanner at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) is one of only a few in the world and is capable of producing unprecedented resolution.

The hope is that these highly detailed images will allow clinicians to distinguish which patients are likely to relapse, so that their treatment and follow-up can be tailored accordingly. 

For those patients who are unlikely to relapse, this would mean avoiding unnecessary scans and the potential side effects these can have, while those who are likely to relapse can be monitored more closely to allow the earliest possible intervention.

In this study, the team will be assessing the feasibility and practicalities of undertaking these advanced MRI scans on children with LGG. If this is found to be a safe and realistic option, a larger study will then be conducted to determine how accurate this methodology is for predicting relapses.

The Importance of Research

Research has helped to shift the dial for many types of cancer, and children’s cancers are no different. More children survive their cancer and go on to live full and happy lives than ever before, thanks to advancements in treatment and care over recent decades. 

There is still more we can do, and Cancer Research Wales will continue to support high-quality research to deliver further improvements for young patients.

Research projects like Dr Adams’, taking advantage of the world-leading technology at CUBRIC, highlight how exciting and innovative cancer research in Wales can be with the right support. 

By funding and nurturing the best research across Wales, we can make a real impact for the cancer patients of tomorrow, whatever their age.