Effect of treatment of malignant disease on growth in children.

The growth of 95 children with malignant disease was studied over a 3- or 4-year period, and compared with the growth of normal children matched for age and sex by calculation of the standard deviation score. The mean standard deviation score of the children with leukaemia fell in the first year of treatment, and thereafter showed little change, remaining below the normal. This effect was related to cranial and craniospinal irradiation, but not to age or duration of chemotherapy. The loss in eventual height attained was small and does not suggest any long-term interference with growth hormone production.