The dramatic improvement made in recent years in the treatment of child-
hood malignancies has been in large part the result of advances in the
field of pharmacology. Chemotherapy is the major therapeutic modality
used to treat childhood cancer. Rational administration of
antineoplastic chemo- therapy to the child with cancer requires the
pediatric oncologist to have a thorough understanding of the fundamental
principles of clinical pharmaco- logy, an intimate knowledge of the
specific agents being used, and an aware- ness of the unique biologic
and physiologic features of children. In mid 1985, a distinguished group
of pediatric oncologists and clinical pharmacologists convened in a
unique workshop to review the subject of pharmacology in pediatric
oncology. A goal of this workshop was to pro- duce a book which would
review this topic and present it in a format useful for the clinician.
In this book basic principles of pharmacology, mechanisms of drug resis-
tance, new methods of drug delivery, guidelines for studying new agents
in children, new biological response modifiers and the pharmacology of
the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents in children are reviewed
in depth. Particular emphasis is given to discussing those topics which
unique- ly apply to the use of antineoplastic agents in children with
cancer. The Editors VII Contents Preface . v Contents Vll List of Major
Contributors Xl Principles of Antineoplastic Therapy in Children 1.
Clinical pharmacokinetics for the pediatric oncologist ................
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