Cancer is a disease where the cells of the body are out of control.  Body cells normally work in a controlled way. With cancer, the cells grow in an uncontrolled way. They damage the part of the body where they first started (primary tumour) and can spread to other parts of the body (secondary tumour or metastasis).

Children's cancer is rare. Only one in every 600 children under the age of 15 years develops cancer. In Victoria, there are between 150 and 180 children diagnosed with cancer each year.
There are many different types of cancer. The most common children's cancers are leukaemias, brain tumours and lymphoma. The various types of cancer diagnosed are shown in the pie chart.