Pediatric Cancer

An intervention specifically aimed at reducing the trauma and anxiety that often comes with parenting a child undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant proved especially helpful for parents during the time of the actual transplant and subsequent hospitalization.

Chest radiation to treat a pediatric cancer is a well-known risk factor for getting breast cancer in adulthood, and research has now unearthed two specific genetic variants which may help to identify those survivors who are most at risk.

Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, discusses the relationship between treatment for cancer and the development of other cancers.

Previous studies have linked radiation to the pancreas during childhood to an increased risk of type 1 or 2 diabetes, and in a recent small study, researchers investigated the mechanisms leading to abnormal glucose and insulin dynamics in survivors of childhood cancers.

With the survival rate of childhood cancer improving and advancements in treatments allowing more of the care to take place in the home, the responsibility of caregiving is increasingly being placed on family members.

Parenting a child with a life-threatening illness like cancer is associated with unique demands, but simultaneously raising healthy siblings can add yet another layer of complexity.

Gwendolyn Quinn, PhD, from Moffitt Cancer Center and professor of oncologic sciences at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, discusses fertility concerns among survivors of childhood cancer.

Gregory T. Armstrong, MD, MSCE, pediatric oncologist, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, discusses a trial of 34,000 childhood cancer survivors.

Findings from an analysis of more than 34,000 participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study show that among those who have survived at least 5 years, all-cause mortality at 15 years after diagnosis dropped by half from 12.4% to 6%.

Dawn M. Carey RN, MSN, APN, LITE Program Coordinator, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, outlines some of the challenges when treating childhood cancer survivors as they age.

A new study has found that although the number of childhood cancer survivors is increasing, the majority of those to survive 5 or more years beyond diagnosis have at least one chronic health condition.

Dawn M. Carey RN, MSN, APN, LITE Program Coordinator, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, discusses caring for childhood cancer survivors.

When trained, advanced practice nurses followed up written heart screening guidelines with telephone calls to survivors of childhood cancers, screening uptake more than doubled among those who received the telephone-based counseling.

When parents are involved in the care of a child with cancer, they experience both positive and negative changes in their relationships, communication, stress, and their roles.

As oncology nurses, we have too often seen young adults who, successfully cured of their childhood cancers, return with serious or debilitating health concerns or even a secondary malignancy as a late effect from chemotherapy or radiation.

Adult survivors of childhood cancer face significant health problems as they age and are five times more likely than their siblings to develop new cancers, heart, and other serious health conditions beyond the age of 35 years