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NEWS |
Late Effects of Pediatric Cancer Treatment Come Into Sharper Focus, Predictive Tests Are Emerging
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Pediatric oncologists have known for some time that their patients, most of whom now survive into adulthood, can face serious, treatment-related health problems years after therapy. But the details of these so-called late effects—such as what doses of which treatments affect which patients—are still emerging.
Large databases of late effects are now making it possible to get a fix on these details and at the same time are spurring new research on interventions to prevent and manage late effects. Researchers are also beginning to look at ways to predict which survivors will be affected, envisioning a time when clinicians will be able to use biomarkers to tell childhood cancer survivors what effects to expect and how best to deal with them.
"Ultimately we will be able to have prognostic algorithms, taking into account the drug, age, doses, markers, and so on, as the number of cases grows,"
Biomarkers for Risk
Increasing Awareness