what if you could PREVENT
CHILDHOOD CANCER?
Why does cancer begin in a healthy child?
KOASTRONG is a registered 501(c)(3) organization centered on childhood cancer prevention. We strive to further the understanding of what series of circumstances allow a child to move from being healthy to having cancer. The subsequent development and implementation of interventions to prevent childhood cancers is our goal.
Childhood & AYA Cancer: A
Pressing Concern
Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease for children, adolescents, and young adults (AYA) under 40 in the United States. In 2024, an estimated 14,910 children and adolescents (ages 0-19) will be diagnosed with cancer, with 1,590 fatalities anticipated. When including young adults (ages 20-39), the burden is even greater. (cancer.gov) Over 400,000 children and adolescents in the world are diagnosed with cancer each year. Tragically, survival rates are vastly unequal—only 20% of children in low- and middle-income countries survive, compared to 80% in high-income nations.
Although treatment advances have improved survival for some pediatric and AYA cancers, progress remains limited for many aggressive types. Survivors frequently experience lifelong health complications, including secondary cancers and emotional trauma. Unlike cancers in older adults, AYA cancers share characteristics with childhood cancers, requiring specialized research and treatment approaches.
Global Impact
In 2017, childhood cancer resulted in approximately 11.5 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) worldwide, with 97.3% attributed to Years of Life Lost (YLLs) due to premature mortality. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) This staggering burden underscores the urgent need for early detection and prevention efforts to reduce the incidence of childhood and AYA cancers.
Why Prevention Matters
While advances in treatment have improved survival rates for some childhood cancers, the incidence continues to rise every year. Survivors often face severe long-term health consequences. The best way forward is to prevent cancer before it starts.
At KOASTRONG, we are leading the charge in childhood cancer prevention by:
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Advocating for Early Detection – Supporting policies and research for newborn and early childhood screeningsto detect cancer before symptoms appear.
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Identifying Environmental Risks – Addressing toxins, pollution, and other preventable exposures that may trigger cancer in children.
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Educating & Empowering Families – Raising awareness about lifestyle and prenatal factors that can reduce cancer risk, including folate supplementation and reducing exposure to known carcinogens.
Join Us in the Fight for Prevention
Funding for childhood cancer research has historically focused on treatment, but prevention is the key to saving lives before cancer strikes. More emphasis on preventing childhood and AYA cancers is critical. By funding research into early detection, risk reduction, and environmental factors, we can shift the narrative from treatment to true prevention.
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Your support helps fund innovative research and policy initiatives aimed at screening early, detecting fast, preventing more, and protecting always.
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Your support fuels critical research to prevent all forms of childhood and AYA cancer.
Together, we can create a future where no family has to hear the words, “Your child has cancer.”
KOASTRONG dreams of a tomorrow without
childhood cancer.
"The causes of most childhood cancers are not known."
National Cancer Institute
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
