The American Cancer Society estimates more than 9,500 children (under 15) will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

Despite significant strides in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the disease still remains the number one cause of death by disease for children. In 2005, 1,585 children are expected to die from cancer.

The most common type of cancer in children is leukemia (accounting for about one-third of all childhood cancers). Central nervous system tumors (those affecting the brain and spinal cord) are the second most common type of cancer. The third most common type of cancer in children is Non-hodgkin lymphoma. Some other types of cancer found in children include: osteosarcoma (the most common type of bone cancer in children and young adults), Ewing's sarcoma (another type of bone cancer), retinoblastoma (affecting the eye), Wilms tumor (a type of kidney tumor), rhabdomyosarcoma (a soft tissue tumor) and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Cancer's Effect on Siblings

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, family focus shifts to caring for the child and striving to make him/her well. Siblings, however, can have some of their own problems to deal with. Younger brothers and sisters of the cancer patient may not fully understand the scope of the diagnosis and treatment. They become concerned over prolonged separations from parents and the need for an older sibling to be hospitalized - sometimes for quite a long time. When the patient experiences treatment side effects (like physical changes, nausea or vomiting) a sibling may fear an impending death or inability to help. Younger children may fear becoming sick themselves.

Older children may have a better understanding of what's happening to their sibling. However, they may feel helpless and frustrated at not being able to "make their brother or sister feel better." Sometimes older children need to pitch in to perform chores normally performed by the adults. That can lead to resentment or even jealousy towards the sick child. As children reach adolescence and begin to understand mortality, they may fear the loss of a brother or sister and become depressed.

Helping Siblings Cope

SuperSibs! is a program that is designed for siblings of cancer patients. The goal of the program is to help siblings understand and cope with their own challenges and emotional ups and downs.

Every couple of weeks, siblings enrolled in the program receive age-appropriate tokens of support, like a trophy, t-shirt or "smile" card with words of encouragement. Older children may use a special journal in which they record their thoughts, fears, concerns and dreams. There are also weekly online chat rooms for teen siblings to share their experiences and thoughts with one another.

SuperSibs! was started a few years ago by a mother who found her own child needed extra support when his brother was undergoing cancer treatment. The program is in its third year of operation and serves more than 2300 children in the U.S. and Canada. There is no cost for families to participate in SuperSibs! For more information, log on to the web at: http://www.supersibs.org, or call

(866) 444-SIBS.

SOURCES

Candlelighters(r) Childhood Cancer Foundation, http://www.candlelighters.org