What Is Involved in Chemotherapy for Children?

Chemotherapy for children involves careful planning to make sure children get appropriate doses of the right medication to treat cancer. There can be some special considerations with children in cancer treatment, including the need for dosage adjustments and counseling to help frightened children feel more comfortable in clinical settings. Children may receive treatment from a pediatric oncologist, a physician who specializes in cancer care for young patients, to ensure they have access to the best options. They and their parents may find it helpful to meet with several doctors to find a good fit.

As with adults, chemotherapy for children can start with a thorough evaluation of the cancer to determine what it is and what kinds of medications it may be susceptible to. The patient may receive surgery and radiation therapy to remove tumors and suppress cell growth. Chemotherapy can be integrated into treatment in the form of oral or injected medications that will act on rapidly dividing cells like those seen in cancer to stop them from growing.

Dose adjustments can be very important in chemotherapy for children. Kids are smaller and more sensitive to medication, and cannot receive doses calibrated for adults. A doctor may consider the patient’s age and weight when determining how much medication to administer, and over what time period. This provides the patient with enough medication to tackle the cancer, without creating an increased risk of side effects with unnecessarily high dosing.

Another concern with chemotherapy for children can be that the medications may damage the intestinal lining, mouth, and hair, just as they do in adults. In these regions of the body, the cells divide rapidly to replace dead and dying surface layers, and chemotherapy may attack them indiscriminately. For growing children, this may cause issues in the future, as well as keeping children underweight and contributing to short-term discomfort like mouth ulcers and intestinal pain.

Patients may require several rounds of chemotherapy to treat cancer. During each round, testing can monitor white blood cell counts and other markers used to assess response to treatment and check for complications. In chemotherapy for children, this testing can also include psychological evaluations to see how the patient feels during treatment. For hospitalized children receiving cancer care, a variety of options may be considered to improve quality of life and help patients keep up with their education so they don't lose valuable ground to their illness.