Childhood Cancer Survivors Experience Late Effects from Treatments

Medical advances are helping more children with cancer live longer and healthier lives. However, a recent study by researchers from the University of Florida Health found that 70 percent of children with cancer experience late effects from their disease and treatment 30 years after their cancer diagnosis.

"The prevalence of these symptoms accounts for a huge variance in physical, mental and social domains of quality of life among survivors," said I-Chan Huang, Ph.D., an associate professor of health outcomes and policy in the UF College of Medicine and the lead author of the study, via a press release. "If we think symptoms are the key to patients' quality of life, then if we can better manage their symptoms, we can improve their daily functional status and quality of life."

The researchers analyzed data from 1,667 childhood cancer survivors who participated in a St. Jude study that looked at long-term effects of cancer survival. A patient-reported survey was used to measure the quality of life, and a specific scale was also designed to assess toxicities related to cancer treatment, as outlined in the Children's Oncology Group guidelines.

Research findings show that participants' ratings based on their own physical and mental life quality dipped lower and lower for each additional symptom than they reported. The study also showed that participants noted symptoms later in life and up to 40 years after they were initially diagnosed with cancer, with close to 70 percent of participants noting that they experienced at least one late effect from their cancer.

It's estimated that one in every 600 adults between the ages of 20 and 39 is a survivor of childhood cancer, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine.

Huang notes, via a press release, that the next step is to develop a tool kit that would help physicians use this information in order to practice to help cancer survivors improve their quality of life.

"We need to provide clear guidance about quality of life and a different structure to use patient-reported outcomes in clinical settings," Huang said. "The critical step is to develop a methodology to diagnose quality of life of individual cancer patients or survivors. We are working to develop a diagnostic classification system by focusing on individualized attributes of poor quality of life; symptoms are one of the key, proximal attributes."

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Journal of Clinical Oncology.