Children, Cancer, and the Environment

What do we know about causes of specific forms of childhood cancer?

There are many forms of cancer found in children.  They vary considerably in terms of their frequency, the age of children most affected, and possible causes. These pages summarize what we know about possible environmental causes.

• Leukemia (cancers affecting the blood)
• Cancers of the brain and nervous system
• Lymphomas
• Soft tissue sarcoma
• Wilms tumor (a kidney cancer)
• Neuroblastoma (cancer of the sympathetic nervous system)
• Bone cancers (Ewing’s sarcoma and osteosarcoma)
• Retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye)
• Germ cell tumors (cancers of the reproductive organs)

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