Oncology and Chronic Disease

We are pleased to present the chapter on Oncology and Chronic Disease. Most published papers with importance to pediatric endocrinology were about late effects of cancer. This is not surprising since significant improvements in diagnosis and intensive treatment modalities of childhood cancer during the last 20 years have led to increasing survival rates worldwide. In developed countries, 1/250 of the adult population is a long-term survivor of childhood cancer. However, children who survive childhood cancer are at risk of various late effects as young adults, such as second malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders, and effects on fertility and reproduction. The latter are of particular interest for the surviving patients. Regarding fertility, we selected three guidelines recommending long-term follow-up of survivors. Our impression is that the number of papers published on the topic ‘chronic disease’ in the year 2013 was less than in 2012. As before, we analyzed this topic from two sides: (1) from the perspective of affected patients, e.g. analyzing growth and pubertal development, and (2) from the perspective of side effects on the endocrine system in relation to the respective therapeutic regimens.