TY  - CHAP
M1  - Book, Section
TI  - Chapter 445. Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy
A1  - Adamson, Peter C.
A1  - Kun, Larry E.
A2  - Rudolph, Colin D.
A2  - Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2  - Lister, George E.
A2  - First, Lewis R.
A2  - Gershon, Anne A.
PY  - 2011
T2  - Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
AB  - Over  the  last  four  decades  of  the  20th  century,  the  cure  rates  for  childhood  cancer  increased  from  less  than  30%  to  almost  80%.1  Remarkably,  most  of  the  advances  did  not  occur  from  the  discovery  of  new  drugs;  rather,  they  came  from  a  better  understanding  of  the  underlying  biology  of  childhood  cancers;  from  improvements  in  the  supportive  care  necessary  for  the  delivery  of  multimodality  therapy;  and  from  improvements  in  our  understanding  and  use  of  chemotherapy,  radiotherapy,  and  surgery.  The  turn  of  the  century  saw  the  introduction  of  molecularly  targeted  therapy,  heralded  by  the  development  of  imatinib  mesylate  (Gleevec)  for  the  treatment  of  chronic  myelogenous  leukemia.2  Even  as  new  molecularly  targeted  therapies  emerge,  the  success  of  cytotoxic  chemotherapy,  coupled  with  the  accumulating  data  of  the  potential  value  of  integrating  molecularly  targeted  therapies  with  classic  cytotoxic  drugs,3  suggests  that  the  chemotherapeutic  drugs  and  radiotherapeutic  modalities  utilized  today  are  likely  to  remain  the  foundation  of  therapy  for  the  foreseeable  future.  Advances  in  radiation  delivery  have  improved  the  therapeutic  ratio  in  children,  enabling  safer  use  of  conformal  radiation  techniques  that  better  spare  the  developing  normal  tissues.  An  understanding  of  the  principles  of  therapy  and  management  of  the  inherent  toxicities  of  cancer  therapy  are  therefore  important  for  pediatricians  today.  
SN  - 
PB  - The McGraw-Hill Companies
CY  - New York, NY
Y2  - 2024/04/19
UR  - accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7041738
ER  -