what if we could PREVENT
CHILDHOOD CANCER?
"The causes of most childhood cancers are not known."
National Cancer Institute
Why does cancer begin in a healthy child—and what can we do to stop it before it starts?
At KoaStrong Childhood Cancer Prevention Organization, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we are leading a movement to prevent childhood and AYA (Adolescent & Young Adult) cancer—before it begins. Our mission is to uncover why healthy children develop cancer and to drive the development of early detection tools, environmental safeguards, and prevention strategies that can save lives.
Why Childhood & AYA Cancer Prevention Matters
Cancer is the #1 disease-related cause of death for children and young adults under 40 in the United States.
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In 2024, an estimated 14,910 children and teens (ages 0–19) will be diagnosed with cancer.
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1,590 will lose their lives.
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Worldwide, over 400,000 children are diagnosed each year.
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In low- and middle-income countries, 80% of children die from cancer due to lack of resources.
Even for survivors, cancer often leaves a lifelong impact—secondary cancers, chronic health issues, and emotional trauma.
AYA cancers share many traits with pediatric cancers, yet they remain understudied and underfunded. We believe prevention is the missing piece in the fight against these diseases.
Global Childhood Cancer: A Hidden Crisis
In 2017, childhood cancers caused 11.5 million years of healthy life lost globally—mostly from premature death. (Source: National Library of Medicine) These numbers reveal an urgent global need for childhood cancer prevention, not just better treatments.
Prevention: The Best Cure We Have
Childhood cancer rates continue to rise. While treatment saves lives, it isn’t enough. The best way to protect children is to prevent cancer before it starts.
At KoaStrong, we focus on bold, actionable solutions:
Detect Earlier
We advocate for newborn screening and early childhood cancer detection, ensuring cancers are found before symptoms appear.
Reduce Risks
We work to identify and eliminate environmental and lifestyle risk factors, including toxins, pollution, and prenatal exposures linked to childhood cancers.
Empower Families
We educate parents and communities about steps they can take to protect children, such as folate supplementation and avoiding known carcinogens.
Shift the Focus: From Treatment to Prevention
For decades, childhood cancer research has focused almost entirely on treatments after diagnosis. But what if we stopped cancer from ever developing?
Your support fuels this life-saving shift. Every donation helps fund:
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Cutting-edge research on early detection and genetic screening
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Investigations into environmental and preventable causes
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Advocacy for new policies that prioritize pediatric cancer prevention
Be Part of the Prevention Revolution
Join us in creating a future where no parent hears the words, “Your child has cancer.”
Together, we can:
🧬 Screen early
⚡ Detect fast
🛡️ Prevent more
💛 Protect always
Support KoaStrong and help build a world where every child grows up cancer-free.
KOASTRONG dreams of a tomorrow without childhood cancer.
Why Are the Most Recent Childhood Cancer Statistics Several Years Old?
At KOASTRONG, we rely on the latest data to drive our mission of preventing childhood cancer through early detection and research. However, you may notice that many global and U.S. childhood cancer statistics come from 2017 or earlier, even though we are in 2025.
This delay happens because:
1. Cancer Data Takes Years to Collect
Childhood cancer statistics come from hospitals, cancer registries, and death records worldwide. Collecting, cleaning, and standardizing this data takes significant time, especially for tracking long-term disease burden.
2. Global and National Reports Are Released on a Delay
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The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is one of the primary sources for cancer burden metrics, but because of the complexity of worldwide data collection, there’s often a 5- to 7-year delay before results are published.
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The U.S. SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) program and CDC cancer reports are often based on cases diagnosed several years earlier to ensure accuracy and comprehensive analysis.
3. Long-Term Studies Are Needed
Measuring the burden of childhood cancer (including Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and Years of Life Lost (YLLs)) requires longitudinal tracking—meaning researchers follow patients over time to assess treatment outcomes, survival, and late effects.
4. The COVID-19 Pandemic Slowed Research
The pandemic disrupted medical research and slowed data reporting, causing even longer delays in updating childhood cancer burden statistics.
Why This Matters
Even though the most recent published statistics may be from 2017, the rising trend in childhood cancer cases remains urgent today. The lack of real-time data highlights a major gap in cancer tracking, prevention, and research funding—one that KOASTRONG is dedicated to addressing.
We advocate for faster data collection, increased research on prevention, and earlier detection methods so that no child is left behind.
Take Action: Support Research to Prevent Childhood Cancer
📢 Join us in funding critical research to stop childhood cancer before it starts. Your support helps drive scientific discoveries that will protect future generations.
💛 Donate Now! Invest in prevention-focused research and change the future of childhood cancer.
Understanding, Not Blaming: A Future-Focused Approach to Childhood Cancer Prevention
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, parents often search for answers—"Why did this happen?" "Could I have done something differently?" These are natural questions, but at KOASTRONG, we believe that no parent should bear the weight of guilt or blame for their child’s illness.
Our Focus: A Better Future for Families
KOASTRONG’s mission is not about looking backward to assign blame but about moving forward with knowledge, research, and action. We don’t ask ‘why our kids got cancer’ to create guilt—we ask so we can understand, prevent, and protect future children.
Breaking the Cycle of Uncertainty
For too long, childhood cancer has been treated as an unchangeable tragedy. But what if we could shift that narrative? By studying patterns, environmental exposures, and early biological markers, we can inform parents, healthcare providers, and policymakers about ways to reduce risk—just as we have done with other diseases.
Knowledge Empowers Change
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It’s not about blame—it’s about progress. Learning from the past helps us create a healthier future.
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It’s not about guilt—it’s about action. Every discovery we make is a step toward prevention.
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It’s not about responsibility—it’s about possibility. Together, we can reimagine what’s possible for children’s health.
At KOASTRONG, we believe that no family should ever feel alone in this journey. Our work is driven by hope—hope that one day, fewer families will face the pain of a childhood cancer diagnosis.
💛 Join us in changing the future. Every donation supports research that helps us better understand, detect, and prevent childhood cancer before it starts.
💛 Dedicate your donation in honor or memory of a loved one. Every contribution is a step toward a world where fewer families face this unimaginable pain.
Our MISSION
KOASTRONG Childhood Cancer Prevention Organization's primary mission is the prevention of childhood cancer through funding research and implementing a multi system approach toward early detection with newborn screenings, prevention through immunizations, genetic testing and environmental health.
Children deserve to have layers of protection against cancer.
KOASTRONG is dedicated to directing funds to critical research for a better understanding of the causes childhood cancers.
KOASTRONG believes in the possibility of prevention and thereby, ending childhood cancer while honoring the spirit, life, love and memory of Kekoa "Koa" Pagán.
KOASTRONG is building a community that is proactive, taking an approach that is different, protecting children from cancer with a multi-system framework.
As a grassroots organization, KOASTRONG will work in partnership with established childhood cancer interest organizations and medical research professionals to fund research focused on the primary prevention of childhood cancers. Our resources will pursue the cause of a child getting cancer. We partner and support charity organizations seeking the same answers about childhood cancer. We fund researchers who are on the cutting edge of discovery in the pediatric oncology specialty. When we prevent childhood cancer, we will end childhood cancer.
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LATEST NEWS
The second annual KOASTRONG BASEBALL CAMP was held on October 15, 2022 at Campbell Little League in Campbell, California. The free baseball skills camp gave 55 youth athletes, ages 7 - 13, the opportunity to learn and practice in a fun, music filled, small baseball town environment. Campbell Police Officers Buckovic and K9 Koa were on-hand to cheer on the athletes and coaches, as well as demonstrate their skills. A drawing was held after the skills camp as a fundraiser for the Kekoa Pagán Scholarship fund which subsidizes registration fees for families in need.
Our Team
Collaboration and passion are the spirit of the KOASTRONG organization. Our team has a dream and a vision of a world without childhood cancers.
PARTNERSHIPS IN CHILDHOOD CANCER PREVENTION
