Childhood Cancer

Childhood Cancer

Treatment basics

To receive the best available treatment, it is essential that a child with a solid tumor be treated at a pediatric medical center by board-certified pediatric oncologists and pediatric surgeons with extensive experience treating the type of tumor the child has. For most children, treatment begins within days of diagnosis and requires aggressive supportive care. The goal of treatment is to achieve complete remission by killing all cancer cells as quickly as possible.

Treatment of childhood solid tumors includes one or more of the following:

•  Surgery (see Chapter 14)

•  Chemotherapy (see Chapter 15)

•  Radiation therapy (see Chapter 17)

•  Stem cell transplantation (see Chapter 18)