Symptom management during chemotherapy

Improvements in overall childhood cancer survival over the last four decades have been due to improved multimodal therapeutic regimes and supportive care. Symptoms are related to disease, procedures, treatments such as chemotherapy regimens and the overall experience of cancer. These symptoms are viewed as subjective indicators of distress which impact on the child's quality of life and therefore require a rational approach to management. This review explores the reasons why symptom management during chemotherapy is necessary, assessment of symptoms in children and young people and current approaches to management of common symptoms which are reported by children and professionals as being distressing. These are nausea and vomiting, pain, mucositis and fatigue.