What to Expect

Once a diagnosis of cancer has been made, you will probably talk with your child's primary care physician along with several cancer specialists, such as a surgeon, a pediatric oncologist and a radiation oncologist. You will want to ask these doctors about all your child's treatment options.

In many cases, your child's cancer will need to be treated by using more than one type of treatment. For example, if they have lymphoma, they might receive chemotherapy or targeted therapy (by a pediatric oncologist) which can be followed by radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells (by a radiation oncologist). Certain types of lymphoma can be treated with either systemic therapy or radiation therapy on their own

After reviewing your child's medical records including imaging, as well as completing a thorough patient history and physical examination, the radiation oncologist will discuss with you the potential benefits and risks of radiation therapy and answer your questions. For a list of questions that you may want to ask, please see the Caring for Your Child section.