The number of childhood cancer survivors is believed to be increasing in the United States, but most still struggle with lifelong morbidities.
Recent findings suggest an uptick in U.S. childhood cancer survivors, but many of these individuals who have survived for at least five years after their diagnosis have at least one chronic health condition, the American Association for Cancer Research reported.
"Our study findings highlight that a singular focus on curing cancer yields an incomplete picture of childhood cancer survivorship. The burden of chronic conditions in this population is profound, both in occurrence and severity. Efforts to understand how to effectively decrease morbidity burden and incorporate effective care coordination and rehabilitation models to optimize longevity and well-being in this population should be a priority," said researcher Siobhan Phillips.
To make their findings the researchers looked at cancer incidence and survival data recorded between 1975 and 2011 taken from nine U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries, and data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) cohort. The data encompassed 14,000 long-term survivors of childhood cancers at 26 cancer centers across the cancer.
The researchers estimated there were about 388,501 childhood cancer survivors in the U.S., which is an increase of 59,849 from a 2005 estimate. About 70 percent of these survivors were believed to suffer from a mild or moderate chronic condition, and about 32 percent from a severe one or life-threatening one. About 35 percent of childhood cancer survivors in the 20-to-49 age range had neurocognitive dysfunction and 13 to 17 percent struggled with "self-reported functional impairment, activity limitations, impaired mental health, pain, or anxiety/fear."
"We know that many of these morbidities are at least somewhat modifiable in the general population. However, we don't know if typical population guidelines for preventive behaviors apply to this group. We need to develop a better understanding of the multilevel factors including, but not limited to, physical activity, diet, and treatment characteristics, which influence childhood cancer survivors' susceptibility to these morbidities in order to effectively prevent and delay their onset," Phillips said.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Cancer Epidemiology.
