Over the past 30 years, there has been a dramatic improvement in the survival rates of children with cancer such that the overall 5-year survival is better than 65%.<sup>2 Bleyer W.A. The impact of childhood cancer on the United States and the world CA 1990 ;  40 : 355  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> For certain diseases (e.g., Hodgkin's disease and Wilms' tumor), the cure rates are in excess of 90%. These remarkable strides have come about, in large part, because of the advent of multimodality therapy and the use of combination chemotherapy. Unfortunately, these therapies can be associated with severe delayed toxicities that generally are more prevalent and of greater clinical significance when therapy is administered during childhood. The endocrine system seems to be particularly susceptible to damage from radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Thus, endocrine disorders are common among survivors of childhood cancer. The following discussion is an overview of some of the most clinically important endocrine disturbances pediatricians are likely to encounter.