Health status of young children with cancer following discontinuation of therapy.

This paper reports late effects and health status of 198 children who had cancer or leukemia diagnosed under 2 years of age and their therapies electively withdrawn. This series (92 neuroblastoma (NBL), 57 Wilms' tumor (WT), 46 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) was followed for 1-12 years after discontinuation of therapy. Thirty-three children were diagnosed before 1973, 92 between 1973 and 1977, and 73 after 1977 in 16 Italian Pediatric Oncology Centers. As of December 1983, 176 children were reported to be alive and without evidence of primary cancer by physicians responsible for their care. One child died from a second primary tumor, two from late recurren…