num_pages: 148
description: The importance of cancer in children, to our society at large, is well illustrated by the fact that, even though cancers in children represent only 1 to 2 percent of all cancers in the developed world, these diseases together are third most important in terms of potential years of life affected (after breast and lung cancer) and second most important in terms of potential years of life saved (after breast cancer).This reflects the life expectancy of healthy children and the high proportion of cases of cancer in childhood that are cured (almost 3/4 overall). The relatively high cure rate is a direct consequence of the long-standing practice of entering children with cancer into randomized clinical trials that compare the best available therapy at the time with a new therapeutic strategy aimed at improving the prospects for survival, limiting the side effects of treatment or both.Continuing improvement in survival rates for children with cancer often comes as a consequence of intensification of treatment. In turn, this poses the prospect of increased toxicity, which demands that more attention be paid to supportive care and prevention of side effects. Examples of our ability to meet these demands successfully include the use of ondansetron (and similar drugs) and the administration of agents designed to stimulate the bone marrow (an ever-increasing family of compounds such as G-CSF).Among the matters of particular relevance to the families of children with malignant diseases is the need to establish a formal network to provide concerted long-term follow-up for survivors of cancer in early life. It is becoming ever more evident that such individuals can face major challenges beyond the cure of their original disease, and the spectrum of such potential disturbances to a return to an otherwise healthy life demands the attention of a wide array of health care professionals.Looking to the future, we may anticipate further major advances ranging from the increasing empowerment of consumers of health care to continuing "miracles" of molecular biology, which will lead to a better understanding of cancer, open up the possibility of screening for these diseases (as well as the detection of "minimal residual disease"), provide an array of new substances to attack the malignant cell, and even enable clinicians to "turn-off" the progression of malignancy (using gene therapy).
language: English
title: Childhood Cancer: Information for the Patient and Family
publisher: B.C. Decker