Late effects of chemotherapy. Implications for patient management and rehabilitation.

This article provides an overview of the late effects of chemotherapy on cardiac, gonadal, neurologic, pulmonary, and renal functions. In addition, it discusses the development of second malignancy following treatment for Hodgkin's disease, breast cancer, and childhood malignancies. As nurses caring for the cancer survivor, we must be knowledgeable about cancer chemotherapeutic agents and the potential or actual impact on cancer patients' lives. We must be creative in our approach to address the needs of the survivor and to study the long-term effects on the survivor.