NEW YORK (AP) — Brain cancer is now the deadliest childhood cancer in the U.S., now ahead of leukemia, a result of improved leukemia treatment and a frustrating lack of progress on brain cancer.
Government statisticians reported the change in rankings Friday, drawing from a review of 15 years of death certificates.
"I think most people, when they think of childhood cancer, think of leukemia," said Sally Curtin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This is kind of a changing of the guard."
Cancer is the fourth leading cause of death for children overall, accounting for about 1 in 10 childhood deaths in 2014. About a quarter these cancer deaths, or 534, were due to brain cancer. There were 445 leukemia deaths.
