Cancer in CTYA

Cancer is much less frequent in children and young people than in older adults. Survival rates for children and young people with cancer are higher than for older adults. However, survival is still relatively poor for some cancers that occur in young people, and cancer remains a leading cause of death among people under 25 years old. 

The following sections present summary statistics on cancer in children, teenagers and young adults in the UK. The statistics are based on data collected by the national population-based cancer registries in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This information is used to provide information on cancer in young people for patients and their families, clinicians, heath services, policy makers, charities and the public.

Each year in the UK, around 3,755 young people under 25 years of age are diagnosed with cancer. That’s 1,645 in children (aged 0-14 years) and 2,110 in teenagers and young adults (aged 15-24 years).

Cancer is more common in young males. Around 1 in every 420 boys under the age of 15 develop cancer compared to 1 in 490 girls. For young people aged 15-24, it is 1 in every 360 for males and 1 in 380 for females.

For both males and females, cancer incidence is higher in the first five years of life, falls to its lowest rate at age 5 to 9 years, and then starts to increase again from 10 years of age marking the start of an unbroken rise in incidence that continues into the teenage years and throughout adulthood.

The bar chart below shows the most common cancers diagnosed in children aged 0-14 years in the UK, based on cancers registered between 1997 and 2016:

Summary figures: 

Source: National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service for England (Public Health England), the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, the Scottish Cancer Registry, and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit

The bar chart below shows the most common cancers diagnosed in teenagers and young adults aged 15-24 years in the UK, based on cancers registered between 1997 and 2016:

Summary figures:

Source: National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service for England (Public Health England), the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, the Scottish Cancer Registry, and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit

Children and young people get different types of cancer compared to adults

Children and young people get different types of cancer to adults and are generally more treatable.

The most common cancers for adults are lung, breast and bowel cancers. The most common type of cancer in children is leukaemia, which accounts for about a third of all cases in this age group. A further quarter of cancer cases are brain and spinal cord tumours. 1 in 10 are lymphomas.

For young people aged 15-24, 1 in 5 of cases are lymphomas. Around 1 in 6 are germ cell tumours, most of which are testicular cancers. Around 1 in 7 are skin cancers (including melanoma), 1 in 8 are brain and spinal cord tumours and 1 in 11 are leukaemia.

Around 1 in 5 cancers diagnosed in teenagers and young adults may be preventable

Around 15% of cancers diagnosed in people aged 15-24 years are skin cancers, which may be preventable by avoiding UV light exposure and burns from sunlight and use of sunbeds.

Cervical cancer accounts for 6% of cancers in females aged 15-24 and is largely preventable by the vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV).

Survival in children and young people has improved for most cancers. More than eight out of ten young people diagnosed with cancer survive at least five years, and many of these are cured. Thanks to research and better treatment, survival has increased over the past 20 years.

Overall, 78% of children and young people diagnosed in 1997 to 2001 survived for at least five years. This went up to 86% for those diagnosed in 2012 to 2016:  a statistically significant increase.

There was a marked increase in survival between these periods for children and young people with leukaemia, lymphomas, brain and spinal cord tumours, bone tumours, soft tissue sarcomas, neuroblastoma and malignant melanomas.

The highest survival rates were for Hodgkin lymphoma, retinoblastoma, germ cell tumours, and skin and thyroid cancers, with over 90% surviving five years after diagnosis.

There are several cancers that have poorer survival that need further research and better treatments, notably some of the brain cancers, bone tumours and soft tissue sarcomas.

The bar chart below shows 5 year survival of children, teenagers and young adults aged 0-24 years with cancer in the UK based on observed survival:

Summary figures:

Source: National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service for England (Public Health England), the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, the Scottish Cancer Registry, and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit

Our data helps the understanding of children's and young people's cancers. Robust data gathering and analysis is a major part of what population-based cancer registries do. Reliable data on cancer incidence and survival across the population is important for understanding all cancers, including cancer in children and young people.

This information is essential for clinicians, health services and policy makers as it helps them work out what resources are needed to improve the care, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in children and young people.

This information helps children and young people with cancer, their families, and charities, understand more about the disease. This knowledge can make a real difference when dealing with something that is so emotionally challenging.

These data also help researchers compare on a global scale how the UK is performing compared to other countries.

The information presented above is based in part on data collected and quality assured by the National Disease Registration Service for England, the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (part of Public Health Wales) and the Scottish Cancer Registry (Public Health Scotland).

This work uses data provided by patients and collected by health services as part of their care and support.

Children, teenagers and young adults UK cancer statistics report 2021

The report includes the following in the appendix and downloads section:

• Appendix A - Cancer classifications codes
• Appendix B - CTYA UK cancer incidence and survival tabulations
• Appendix C - CTYA cancer survival charts: 0-14 year olds
• Appendix C - CTYA cancer survival charts: 15-24 year olds
• Appendix C - CTYA cancer survival charts: 0-24 year olds

The International Benchmarking of Childhood Cancer Survival by Stage (BENCHISTA) project.