On Monday, April 24, 11 volunteers from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action (ACS CAN) traveled to Washington, D.C., from across the nation to join more than 200 other cancer patients, survivors and family members from 34 states and the District of Columbia in the nation’s capital for the 12th Annual Alliance for Childhood Cancer Action Days, a two-day event organized by the Alliance for Childhood Cancer, of which ACS CAN is a member. This year’s Childhood Cancer Action Days will be the first held in-person since 2019.

The volunteers shared their personal stories and urge lawmakers to fund childhood cancer programs and ensure childhood cancer research remains a national priority. Participants asked lawmakers to fully fund the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access and Research (STAR) Act and fully fund the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative(CCDI) to improve the quality of life of childhood cancer patients, survivors and their families. They will also ask lawmakers to continue to make strong investments in the National Institutes for Health and the National Cancer Institute to help advance discoveries in the fight against childhood cancer.

ACS CAN played a key role in the passage of the STAR Act and has long advocated for full funding for it and the CCDI. The STAR Act, which was signed into law in 2018 and reauthorized in 2022, increases funding for childhood cancer research, expands efforts to track childhood cancer incidences, and improves the quality of life for childhood cancer survivors. CCDI is focused on establishing more efficient ways to share and use childhood cancer data to accelerate the development of new treatments. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children ages 1 to 14. About 9,910 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2023.  An estimated 1,040 children under the age of 15 are expected to die from cancer in 2023.

To learn more about ACS CAN’s advocacy work on childhood cancer research funding, visit the Childhood Cancer Research campaign page on fightcancer.org.