Sarcoma amongst childhood cancers linked with most chronic health conditions

Survival rates for pediatric cancers have been increasing, but many patients will go on to develop chronic health conditions. Long-term follow-up should be determined on a patient-specific basis considering primary diagnosis and therapies received, according to a study.

In this retrospective study, data from 51 patients with childhood cancer were analyzed. A satisfaction survey among patients and/or their parents was sent out.

At the time of the study, patients had an average age of 17.4 years (range, 10 to 35) with a mean delay since the end of treatment of 9.8 years (range: 4.5-31).

Most patients (82.3%) had a chronic health condition of which 39.2% had ≥3 chronic health conditions.

Overall, the total number of Grade CTCAE 1-4 chronic health conditions was 118, with a mean of 2.3 disorders per patient.

Neurological, musculoskeletal, endocrine, and renal systems were the most affected with 14.4%, 13.6%, 9.3%, and 9.3%, respectively. The diagnoses associated with the highest average number of chronic health conditions included, sarcoma, central nervous system tumors, and neuroblastoma.

Reference
Babecoff S, Mermillod F, Marino D, et al. Long-term follow-up for childhood cancer survivors: the Geneva experience. Swiss Med Wkly. 2022;152:w30153. doi: 10.4414/smw.2022.w30153. PMID: 35429234.