Children Diagnosed With Cancer: Late Effects of Cancer Treatment
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, families and parents will
need to know about and cope with many problems. This document
which discusses what effects of cancer treatment can show up
later is one in a series for parents and loved ones of a child
with cancer. The other documents have information on how to cope
with the cancer diagnosis, returning the child to school,
understanding the health care system, and financial and
insurance issues. What are late effects? Today, because of
advances in treatment, about 8 out of 10 children treated for
cancer survive at least 5 years, and most of these children are
cured. But the treatments that help these children survive their
cancer can also cause health problems later on. Most treatment
side effects appear during or just after treatment and go away a
short time later. But some problems may not go away or may not
show up until months or years after treatment. These problems
are called late effects. B