Study Finds Costs, Distance Delay Childhood Cancer Care

Research highlights how distance and financial hardship can obstruct timely cancer care, especially for children who need specialized treatment. In Kenya, preliminary findings from Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital show that treatment costs, limited insurance, long trips to specialist centers and low awareness of childhood cancer delay diagnosis and care; nearly half of caregivers interviewed had not heard of childhood cancer before their child became ill, and one family’s journey spanned 981 kilometers. A separate U.S. study found that one in five pediatric cancer patients lived more than 90 minutes from their treatment center, while patients facing the greatest social vulnerability were least likely to seek care across state lines. Together, the findings point to the burden that travel and household resources can place on families trying to access specialized pediatric cancer treatment.