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Clinical Trials Help Cut Childhood Cancer Deaths

The number of children dying from cancer has fallen by almost a quarter in the last decade, according to new figures.

Around 1,500 children are diagnosed every year in the UK and around five children still die from cancer every week.

But according to Cancer Research UK the number of children dying from cancer each year has dropped from around 330 a decade ago to around 260 in the latest figures.

Karen Attwood's daughter Yasmin was only two when she was diagnosed with leukaemia.

"It’s not something you ever imagine happening.

"It’s a very long treatment ... it was two and a half years and that was chemotherapy every single day."

Almost three years on, Yasmin is now cancer-free. She is one of a growing number of young survivors to have benefited from taking part in clinical trials.

Her mum told Sky News that the relief still comes in waves.

"I was driving along, thinking 'it’s summer, its Yasmin’s birthday and we’re going swimming, she’s not in hospital'.

"I just burst out crying ... sobbing, tears of relief. It's unexpected when those moments arrive and you realise 'I’m a normal family'."

Dr Aine McCarthy, from Cancer Research UK, says that progress is largely down to clinical research.

"Clinical trials are massively important. Not only do they show that a drug works, they also show if it can benefit a patient.

"This improved understanding has helped us look at treatments and identify which are the best ones, so we now know what better drug combinations work best together to improve a child’s chance of survival."

The figures are something to celebrate. But, she says, there is still plenty of work to be done.

"While survival rates are improving, we still need to make these treatments kinder so that children suffer less."