Short- and long-term complications of radiation therapy for pediatric brain tumors

Brain tumors are the second most common malignancy of childhood after acute lymphocytic leukemia. Improvements in therapy have led to increased survival. It is estimated that by the year 2000 there will be approximately 200,000 survivors of childhood cancer. A proportion of these will have survived a central nervous system malignancy. As more children survive, complications of treatment are increasingly recognized. This paper reviews the spectrum of radiation-induced complications, both short- and long-term. Their frequency and characteristics will be reviewed as well as suggestions made to decrease their incidence.