Survivors of childhood cancer may for the first time be living long enough to have children. Those children may be inheriting the cancer gene. Other survivors are getting secondary cancers from the radiation and chemotherapy. After that, though, the issue gets murky. Childhood cancer is a very different disease than adult cancer, so those studies don't always apply.
Childhood cancers strike different parts of the body in different ways.
So there is a scarcity of solid data on the causes of childhood cancer. Studies have been done on various theories, but because those studies are small or otherwise disputed, none are strong enough to count on, researchers say. But scientists do have a few working theories. Perhaps the most pressing environmental concern is whether pesticides can be linked to certain cancers. Some studies have found links between frequent pesticide use in the home or the parent's work and childhood leukemias and brain cancer.