About This Stamp
This new Cure Childhood Cancers stamp, called a semipostal, is being issued by the U.S. Postal Service to support biomedical research aimed at improving survival for children and adolescents with cancer and developing safer, less toxic treatments that reduce short- and long-term side effects.
Net proceeds from the surcharge on the Cure Childhood Cancers semipostal will be donated to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for childhood cancer research.
Why childhood cancer?
While childhood cancer is rare, about 15,000 children and adolescents under age 20 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease among children and adolescents after infancy. Among the most common cancers in children and adolescents are leukemias (cancers of the blood and bone marrow), malignant brain and other central nervous system tumors, and lymphomas (cancers that begin in the lymphatic system).
The good news is that, between 1975 and 2024, the cancer mortality rate among children and adolescents under age 20 dropped by more than half. However, about 1,800 children and adolescents die from cancer each year, underscoring the need for continued research and new advances that further reduce childhood cancer mortality.
Despite tremendous progress, significant challenges remain. Some childhood cancers are still treated with chemotherapy regimens developed decades ago, and certain cancers continue to have few effective treatment options. For cancers for which treatments are successful, the majority of survivors will suffer adverse outcomes that affect their quality of life months or years after the completion of treatment. Continued research is critical to developing more effective and less toxic treatments and improving outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer. Proceeds from this semipostal will support research toward that goal.
The NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) supports a broad childhood cancer research portfolio spanning basic and translational research to advance the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship of childhood cancers, including research in precision medicine, immunotherapy, clinical trials, survivorship, and data science. Through initiatives such as the NCI Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, NCI is bringing together clinical and molecular data, helping accelerate discovery and improve care for children and adolescents with cancer. Continued investment can build on progress and create new opportunities to improve outcomes for children with cancer.
Artist Chuck Styles faced an interesting challenge when he took on this project: how to deal with a difficult subject while conveying hope — that we can beat this thing together. Incorporating just enough color, he found, was a good way to give the artwork an uplifting feeling.
The Cure Childhood Cancers issuance brings to five the number of semipostals currently available from the Postal Service. Two of the five — Breast Cancer Research and Save Vanishing Species — were mandated by Congress. The other three were initiated by the Postal Service and are known as discretionary semipostals: Alzheimer’s, Healing PTSD, and now Cure Childhood Cancers.
They all make a difference. The Breast Cancer Research semipostal alone has raised nearly $100 million for cancer research since it was first issued in 1998.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer, Stamp Artist
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.
Stamp Artist
Chuck Styles
Equally comfortable with acrylic paint and digital mediums, Philadelphia-based visual artist and creative director Chuck Styles uses rich color and bold abstract elements to imbue his portraits with palpable energy.
Primarily self-taught with some formal art education at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, Styles pushes his creativity by combining of-the-moment people and current ideas with timeless messages that challenge viewers to look deeper.
His work has been seen in partnership with Vice President Kamala Harris, Madden NFL 23, Topps, BET, HBO, NASCAR, Marvel, the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago White Sox, and more. Styles continues to use his art to highlight culture, bring people together, and celebrate life in sports and entertainment.
Styles's first project for the U.S. Postal Service was the Hank Aaron stamp (2024). His most recent stamp project for the Postal Service is the 2027 Cure Childhood Cancers semipostal.