[Radiotherapy for leukemias and lymphomas in children]

Children treated for malignant hemopathy have a very good prognosis, yet late effects of the treatments on the length, endocrine function, cognitive function and the risk of secondary malignant tumors must be decreased. These toxicities are described in this article. New protocols and radiation techniques have been developed to reduce these effects. Radiotherapy is prescribed in the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma to prevent high risk of meninges recurrences or to treat meninges disease associated with chemotherapy. Doses of cranial irradiation are limited to 24 Gy. A SFOP trial concluded that doses of 20 Gy are sufficient after good responses to chemotherapy for the treatment of Hodgkin's disease. The target volume is reduced to the initial site of the disease.