Despite advances that have made treatments safer and more effective, childhood cancer survivors don’t appear to have experienced gains in long-term health outcomes, a new study suggests.
Their survival odds are better, but as adults they may have chronic medical problems linked to cancer and tumor treatments, the study found.
Up to one in four childhood cancer survivors report health problems in their 20s and 30s, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“They have chronic conditions at higher rates than siblings and the general population and they perceive their health as worse,” said lead study author Kirsten Ness of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
