Pediatric Cancer Informative Speech

The Reality When It Comes to Having to Fight Pediatric Cancer is Frightening A frightening reality for thousands of children and families is having the words, “You have cancer.”. Hearing these three words is the reality every two minutes worldwide for kids and their families and to me, there are a sad statistic to hear because that means that every day about 720 kids are diagnosed with cancer (Childhood Cancer). Image if you that was someone in your family hearing these three simple words, what would you do for them. I truly believe that you would do everything in your power to help them survive this terrible disease from taking their life away. Should Americans focus more on the realities of pediatric cancer?

When it comes to anything

According to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, only four percent of the U.S. federal funding is given for the research of pediatric cancer research in 2016 (Childhood Cancer). The frightening part of the U.S. federal funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) budget was about $5.21 billion and if take the four percent out, pediatric cancer research gets only about $208,400 million(Facts). Yes, $208,400 million is a lot of money until it comes down to finding a cure and a treatment for pediatric cancer that is not a lot of money compared to the amount other types of cancers receive for research. Pediatric cancer drugs available that are specifically for children are fewer than ten different types and there are only four other types of drugs approved for both adults and children (Facts). The average

Still, with all the advances in treatment that have been made, more than 80% of children treated for cancer survive at least five more years after treatment (American Cancer Society). These kids face many side effects that are physical like heart problems, infertilely, and so many more side effects. The heart problem is caused by the chemo drugs and/or radiation therapies that these same kids received to help stop their cancer from killing them. The chemo drugs that cause the heart problem is known as “anthracyclines”, which does damage the heart muscles and/or affect its rhythms. The radiation therapies are used to target a specific area, but in this case the chest area, spine area, or when given to the whole body which also likes the chemo side effect with damage of the heart muscle, affect its rhythm, and/or damage the heart valves or the blood vessels (American Cancer Society). These two therapies are both the top two choices for fighting pediatric cancer which is a frightening reality for a lot of survivors of pediatric cancer. A lot of pediatric cancer survivors who just finish fighting the battle to live so that they can have a future, but sadly unknowing to them that they are at risk of infertility (Hudson 1171-83). The causes for infertilely in pediatric cancer survivors are