Pediatric Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy (chemo) is the use of medicines to treat cancer or kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy has been used for many years. It’s one of the most common treatments for cancer.  The groups of cancer therapy medicines work in different ways to fight cancer cells. For example, some interfere with the ability of cancer cells to grow or reproduce. It’s common for cancer to be treated with more than one medicine at a time. Chemo may be used alone or used with other treatments, such as radiation or surgery.

Why might my child need chemotherapy?

Your child may need chemo to:

• Treat a certain type of cancer
• Decrease the size of a tumor before surgery
• Help other treatment work better, such as radiation
• Lessen pain, or other symptoms, and improve quality of life