Lifetime follow-up care after childhood cancer.

Cancers that occur during childhood and adolescence (ages 0 to 19 years) are very responsive to treatment, with a current overall cure rate of better than 80%. However, approximately 75% of childhood cancer survivors develop late effects, including problems with growth and development, vital organ function, reproduction, and psychological health, as well as serious complications of secondary neoplasms and recurrence. The primary physician should continue some level of involvement during all phases of patient care and pay special attention to possible late effects during the follow-up phase.

Late effects in long-term survivors after treatment for childhood acute leukemia.

Background: This is a report of late effects in childhood cancer survivors seen in the follow-up clinic of a single institution.

Materials And Methods: There were 324 acute leukemia survivors in the database of the Long Term Follow Up Clinic of Children's National Medical Center from January 1, 1997, through June 30, 2005.

Results: Of the 324 acute leukemia survivors, 228 were white, 48 black, 20 Hispanic, and 12 other.

Cousin Lizzie's tuberculosis tent.

Before the discovery of antibiotics as a cure for tuberculosis in the 1940s, open-air therapy was the standard treatment for the disease. This article describes how families and health care institutions used tents, shacks, balconies, and verandas to expose loved ones and patients to the cold, pure air that was believed to help them fight tubercle bacillus.

Hypertension and prehypertension in long-term survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer.

Background: Hypertension as a late effect following childhood and adolescent cancer has received little attention. Since obesity, a known risk factor for hypertension, is increased following some childhood cancers, it seems likely that significant numbers of survivors would have hypertension.

Procedures: The records of patients seen in the Long Term Follow Up Clinic of Children's National Medical Center were examined for a single institution, retrospective study of blood pressure in survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer.

Growth hormone deficiency after chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children who have not received cranial radiation.

Chemotherapy-related growth failure is a significant problem in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and other childhood cancers. Growth impairment after cranial radiation (CR) can result in diminished adult height, but growth failure following chemotherapy without CR is usually followed by catch-up growth and normal adult height.1 A retrospective review of 347 ALL survivors registered in our Long Term Follow Up (LTFU) Clinic, since 1997 revealed that 109 had received CR; 3, total body irradiation (TBI); and 235, neither CR nor TBI.