September is childhood cancer awareness month, and there's encouraging news about the progress being made.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and there's encouraging news about the progress being made.
The five-year survival rate for childhood cancer has risen from 75% to 85% over the last three decades.
But surviving cancer doesn't necessarily mean a child's medical journey is over.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels has spent nearly three decades funding pediatric cancer research, awarding more than 1,600 grants to 210 medical institutions.
And as more children survive, the focus isn't only on finding a cure, it's also on finding treatments that can give those children a better life after cancer.
"We're not only focused on putting an end to pediatric cancer, but we also focus on what does life look like after cancer for the child. So we invest in technology such as high-intensity focused ultrasound, which is a less invasive way to treat pediatric cancers to make life after cancer that much better for those children," said Hope on Wheels board member Kevin Reilly.
And behind those survival numbers are children like 12-year-old Jackson Trinh.
He's now a national youth ambassador for Hyundai Hope on Wheels, sharing his experience with other children facing cancer.
We asked him what he tells a child who's still in the middle of treatment.
"It's OK to be scared. Everyone is at first. All you got to know is that everything in life is temporary. So when life is good, enjoy it. But when life is hard, just know that there are better days ahead," he said.
And researchers are working to create more of those better days.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels said it will award $26 million in pediatric cancer research and program grants this year, bringing its total investment over 28 years to $303 million, with the goal of pushing that survival rate even higher.
