Project:EveryChild

Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease in children in the United States. Project:EveryChild is designed to change that. Together, we’re building one of the most comprehensive datasets in pediatric cancer and accelerating research across every diagnosis.

Project:EveryChild enables researchers worldwide to better understand each pediatric cancer type and accelerate the development of more precise treatments—improving patient outcomes now and in the future. Every child is eligible to participate, regardless of how common or rare their diagnosis.

INVEST IN A CURE

Every Child Deserves a Cure

While acute lymphoblastic leukemia accounts for roughly a quarter of cases, many childhood cancers affect fewer than 1,000 children each year—and some fewer than 100.

When cancers are this rare, it’s harder to gather enough data to fully understand them, which can slow the path to better treatments. But for families, time doesn’t feel slower—it feels more urgent. We created Project:EveryChild because every patient deserves the best possible chance at a cure.

How It Works

A smiling child wearing a hospital gown sits on a hospital bed, holding onto an IV pole. Medical equipment and blue balloons are visible in the background, creating a bright and hopeful atmosphere.

Patients

Every child and adolescent diagnosed with cancer can participate in Project:EveryChild, regardless of diagnosis. This includes children with rare cancers for whom no clinical trial is available—ensuring no child is left out of discovery.

Patients who participate allow extra tissue and samples from surgeries, biopsies, and clinic visits to be included in COG’s biobank and studied by scientists worldwide. Each sample provides crucial information that fills gaps in research and helps advance customized treatments, laying the groundwork for future discoveries and more effective treatments for every diagnosis, even the rarest.

A gloved hand uses a pipette to dispense liquid into a clear 96-well plate containing red solution, on a stainless steel laboratory surface.

Samples

Biospecimens and clinical data are collected from pediatric cancer patients worldwide through the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) institutions. These samples—which include tumor tissue, blood, bone marrow, saliva, and DNA from patients and their families—are collected and stored in COG’s biorepository.

Since its inception in 2015, Project:EveryChild has collected over 400,000 samples from patients with nearly 300 unique cancer diagnoses. This growing resource enables researchers to better understand how pediatric cancers develop, vary, and respond to treatment.

A person in a white lab coat stands in a bright laboratory filled with equipment, machines, and organized shelves holding boxes and supplies. The person appears to be working with a machine.

Data

Even within the same diagnosis, every child’s biology is different, and childhood cancers can vary from one patient to another. Understanding those differences, and what they mean for treatment, depends on having data from many children diagnosed with cancer, not just a few. Project:EveryChild’s scale enables scientists to study the biology and outcomes of every enrolled patient, regardless of diagnosis.

Pediatric cancer researchers now understand the importance of breaking broad cancer types down into smaller, distinct subtypes. The comprehensive dataset Project:EveryChild makes available has facilitated collaboration and accelerated discovery across this work, leading to the development of unique, precise treatments for every form of pediatric oncology—no matter how rare.

As the complexity of cancers is increasingly understood, progress toward cures for every child depends on access to large, connected datasets available worldwide. Project:EveryChild has built that foundation, bringing together biospecimens and data at a scale that enables faster discovery and better long-term outcomes for patients.

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Project Reach

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Biospecimens

Supporters and Partners

We are grateful to the organizations and partners who support Project:EveryChild and help advance research for children and adolescents with cancer. Together, this work helps ensure that even the rarest diagnoses are included in discovery.