Lesley Lauder: Too many of us are in dark about childhood cancer

Recently your child will have come home from school with a Be Child Cancer Aware leaflet. You may have glanced at it and stuck it away somewhere thinking that it's nothing that affects you – that's what I would have thought before our healthy, boisterous 18-month-old son Ross was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma, in August 2009.

Childhood cancer kills more children in the UK than any other disease, yet it is often misdiagnosed, or diagnosed late, leading to young lives being lost.

If a child has a rash, the first thing a parent will do is use a glass to check to see if the rash disappears – this is what awareness has done for meningitis survivorship. And while no parent wants their child to get meningitis, they are not afraid to talk about it. The same cannot be said for childhood cancer.

But about 4,000 UK children and teenagers will be diagnosed with cancer in the UK this year and there are about 10,000 children and teenagers receiving treatment at any one time. Cancer is the leading cause of death in this age range, with three out of ten children and seven out of ten teenagers dying from these diseases. Almost half of those who go into remission will go on to develop a further cancer after five years. This issue needs tackling now.

The national Be Child Cancer Aware campaign aims to provide information about the symptoms of child and teenage cancer to every parent in the UK.

Additionally, we need less harsh treatments for children – those that do survive are left with many scars or other health problems due to chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Long term aftercare is also a huge concern, including the physical and emotional strain on families. A lot of children will have high dependency due to the devastating effect some drugs have on their fragile bodies.

Our children are our future and cancer is robbing us and them of that future. Many of the parents whose children have cancer will say, "I wish I had known more about it."

Please read your leaflet and be aware.

•www.bechildcanceraware.org