Children with cancer need our support
With your donation to the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center in Heidelberg (KiTZ), you are giving new hope to children with cancer. Children with cancer need our support. Every year in Germany, approximately 2,300 children and adolescents are newly diagnosed with cancer, which is the leading cause of disease-related death among children and adolescents.
Although overall survival rates for childhood cancer have improved to 84% in recent decades, the chances of a cure for high-risk tumors are only about 30%—and even less than 20% after a relapse. At the same time, up to 70% of survivors continue to suffer from long-term effects and side effects decades later.
Furthermore, cancer in children is rare compared to cancer in adults. For this reason, cancer drugs have been developed primarily for adults for decades. Since these cannot be used directly in children, children and adolescents have far fewer treatment options available to them than adults.
At KiTZ, the focus is on children: Researchers are working on urgently needed new therapies and diagnostic options specifically for children with high-risk tumors and relapses, as well as on treatments with fewer side effects and long-term consequences.
Furthermore, a cancer diagnosis presents affected patients and their families with significant medical, emotional, and logistical challenges and requires intensive care. That is why KiTZ offers patients and their families excellent medical care and support, as well as additional psychosocial services, in a family-friendly environment.
KiTZ’s goal is to use intensive research to give every affected child a chance at a cure in the future, reduce side effects and long-term consequences, and improve quality of life in the long term.
You can help KiTZ achieve this:
- To develop more accurate diagnostic methods and better treatments specifically for children and adolescents.
- To support family-friendly care.
- To make the challenging time of illness easier for children with cancer and their families.
If you'd like to support KiTZ's work directly with a donation, click here to access the donation form. If you'd like to learn more about the various ways to support us, you'll find all the information you need on how to help here.