Cancer symptoms can be very similar to those of other illnesses & they vary between children. The following symptoms are NOT usually cancer but if you child has any of these symptoms, it is definitely worth a trip to the doctors!

• Difficulty urinating or blood in wee
• Persistent back ache
• Frequent bruising
• Unexplained vomiting
• Changes in appearance of the eye or unusual eye reflections in photos
• Unexplained lumps or firmness anywhere in the body
• Swollen glands
• Abdominal pain or swelling all the time
• Unexplained sweating or fever
• Headaches that won’t go away
• Frequent injections or flu-like symptoms
• Feeling sleepy all the time
• Unexplained fits (seizures) or changes in vision or behaviour
• Unexplained weight loss or appetite

We would like to reiterate these symptoms are usually not cancer but taking your child to the doctor to get checked is a small precaution that could really help in the long term.

We need to raise awareness of childhood cancers as each day young lives are being lost. 

• There were around 1,700 new cases of cancer in each year in the UK in 2011-2013, that is around 5 cases diagnosed each day.

• Around 1 in 500 children in Great Britain will develop some form of cancer by 14 years of age.

• Although survival rates have improved, cancer is the leading cause of death in children, teenagers and young adults

• In the UK, children’s cancers incidence rates have increased by 29% since the late 1970s.

(Facts from Cancer Research UK)