Children and young people with cancer in Scotland

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides information on cancer in children (ages 0 to 14) and young people (ages 15 to 24) in Scotland, using age-appropriate cancer classifications which can be found on this publication's web page. This release will be updated on an annual basis.

This publication has been developed in collaboration with the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer. Information is included on cancer incidence, survival and prevalence covering the years 2014 to 2023, while data on mortality and place of death are provided between 2015 and 2024.

Main points

Children:

• In 2023, 126 children were diagnosed with cancer.
• In the ten-year period 2014 to 2023, 1,357 children (53% male) were diagnosed with cancer in Scotland. Nearly one third (30%) of those cancers were leukaemia and a quarter (25%) were cancers of the brain and central nervous system (CNS).
• In the decade leading to 2023, there were no significant changes in the incidence rates of any cancer in both boys and girls.
• Most children will be cured of their cancer; 86% of children diagnosed with cancer can expect to be alive at least five years after diagnosis. While survival rates are high for most cancers, approximately 1 in 14 children (7.3%) die in the first year after a cancer diagnosis. There were no significant changes in 1 or 5-year survival between 2013 to 2017 and 2018 to 2022.

Young people:

• In 2023, 167 young people were diagnosed with cancer.
• In the ten-year period 2014 to 2023, 1,879 young people (51% female) were diagnosed with cancer in Scotland. The most common diagnoses were carcinomas (22%), lymphomas (21%), and melanoma and skin cancer (14%).
• Cancers in 15 to 24 year old females fell overall by 20% in the decade leading to 2023, with carcinomas in particular falling significantly (by 39%). No significant overall change was observed in cancer rates among 15 to 24 year old males.
• Most young people will be cured of their cancer; 90% of young people diagnosed with cancer can expect to be alive at least five years after diagnosis. While survival rates are high for most cancers, approximately 1 in 26 young people (3.9%) die in the first year after a cancer diagnosis. There were no significant changes in 1 or 5-year survival between 2013 to 2017 and 2018 to 2022.

During the past 45 years, 9,867 living people were diagnosed with cancer when they were either a child or a young person. Many of these survivors experience long-term health difficulties. Their continuing care, while primarily having a huge impact on them and their families, also has major resource implications for medics, nurses, and allied health professionals, as well as impacting other departments such as radiology, fertility and cardiology.

Background

The occurrence and outcomes of cancer in children and young people in Scotland deserve particular attention. While our existing publications on cancer incidence and cancer mortality include children and young people, the classification of cancer types included in those publications is based on anatomical site and is better suited to cancers diagnosed in adults. Many adult cancers are caused by modifiable lifestyle factors or are associated with increasing age but the determinants of cancers in children and young people are very different. Many are due to random, spontaneous mutations in genes that cause cells to grow uncontrollably.

As children and young people usually live for many decades after a diagnosis of cancer, the implications for their future health, including fertility, are different from those of adults diagnosed in later life.

Many people who survive a cancer diagnosis as a child or young person experience long-term health difficulties. Improving the wellbeing of these survivors after cancer treatment - and into their adulthood - is important, but has major resource implications, not only on paediatric and adult cancer services, but also in other fields which provide long term follow-up, including radiology, endocrinology, fertility and cardiology.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be in 2027.