The effects of radiation therapy in musculoskeletal system of children

Abstract

The last 40 years, due to advanced therapeutic strategic, there has been significant improvement in the survival rates of childhood cancer, now exceeding 80% 5-year survival rates and radiation therapy is established, either as the main treatment or as an adjuvant therapy to reduce the risk of recurrence after surgery. However, the side-effects of radiation therapy are very frequent and approximately the two thirds of the survivors suffer from musculoskeletal complications, half of them suffering from life-threatening conditions, sometimes decades following radiation therapy. Despite the high 5-year survival rates and the advanced treatment options, approximately 16 % of the deaths during the first 5 years from the diagnosis are caused by treatment complications. Unfortunately today, there are no systematic studies examining the complications of the therapy, especially the rare ones, and also there are no standardized guidelines for long-term follow-up of these patients. In this study, the effects of radiation therapy in the musculoskeletal system will be analyzed and interventions to prevent or delay these chronic health conditions will be suggested. The studies selected to review, were retrieved from PubMed database. We searched the PubMed using the terms “childhood cancer”, “musculoskeletal effects”, “radiation therapy”, “radiotherapy complications”. We selected 10 articles with relevant abstracts. Effects of radiation therapy in musculoskeletal system