General Information About Late Effects of Treatment for Childhood Cancer

During the past five decades, dramatic progress has been made in the development of curative therapies for pediatric malignancies. More than 80% of children with cancer who have access to contemporary therapies are expected to survive into adulthood.[1] The therapies responsible for this survival can also produce adverse, long-term, health-related outcomes, referred to as late effects, which appear months to years after completion of cancer treatment.

Many approaches have been used to study the very long-term morbidity associated with childhood cancer and its contribution to early mortality. These initiatives have used a spectrum of resources, including data from the following:

High-quality data is needed to establish the occurrence of and risk profiles for late cancer treatment–related toxicity. The highest quality data typically comes from studies that report outcomes in survivors who have undergone medical assessments that provide well-characterized clinical statuses, treatment exposures, and specific late effects. Regardless of study methodology, it is important to consider selection and participation bias of the cohort studies in the context of the findings.