Preface

Excerpt

Prior to the introduction of chemotherapy and radiation in the 1940s, a cancer diagnosis meant certain death for the overwhelming majority of children. The implementation of cytotoxic therapy revolutionized childhood cancer care, drastically prolonging survival in various blood, brain, and bone cancers. Leukemia, which was the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children in the 1970s, miraculously became a survivable disease. Osteosarcomas such as Ewing sarcoma saw drastic increases in survival rates. Pediatric brain tumors that were previously universally fatal saw remissions and even cures with radiotherapy. …