The 2026 Childhood Cancer Report
From diagnosis to research: measuring momentum in the search for cures
Toward the Future
When a child was diagnosed with Wilms tumor in the early 20th century, the treatment protocol was high-risk surgery and care to ensure what was then called an “easeful death,” the 1890s version of palliative care. Five-year survival rates did not exist until pediatric surgeon Dr. William E. Ladd pioneered new techniques in the operating room, removing surgery risk and ensuring successful removal of kidney tumors. Combined with radiation, this treatment protocol elevated cure rates to 25% in the 1940s and then to 47% in the 1950s. Later, Dr. Sidney Farber would introduce chemotherapy to the mix, and in doing so, children with Wilms tumor received a treatment plan instead of a death sentence.219
Today, thanks to continued innovation and research, a child diagnosed with Wilms tumor has a five-year survival rate of nearly 90%.220
Similar stories can be told for other types of childhood cancer (see Section 2 for examples). Research works. Scientists of all disciplines, from chemistry to genetics to data to the pioneering frontier of AI, continue to advance toward breakthrough treatments. Their inspiration comes from the foundational successes of researchers like Dr. Ladd and Dr. Farber and from the stories of real children who have cures today that did not exist just five years ago.
The section ahead reviews some of the research and treatment trends that are emerging—a novel frontier where the foundational knowledge is being matched with treatments for children with cancer.