In this review in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), the authors discuss body surface area (BSA) and when it is used in practice, in particular, for calculating drug doses in children and for cancer chemotherapy. The following questions and topics are addressed:

• Why adjust drug doses?

• Variation between patients in drug handling

• Targeting the drug’s therapeutic range

• Origin of BSA use

• Direct measurement of BSA

• Formulae to calculate BSA

• Potential disadvantages of BSA

• When should BSA be used?

• Using BSA in children and oncology

• Calculating drug doses in oncology

• Obese patients

• Effects of renal function and hepatic function

• Toxicity adjusted dosing

• Therapeutic drug monitoring

• Genotyping