Study points to long-term health problems for pediatric cancer...( the cancer/cancer therapy and anxiety...),Health

The survivors fared worse than healthy subjects in all categories. Researchers also found that patients living in households with annual incomes of less than $20,000 were 2.6 times more likely to suffer long-term general health problems than patients from higher-income households. Those patients were twice as likely to suffer mental health problems as well as activity limitations including trouble climbing stairs, walking one block or carrying groceries.

"It used to be in the old days that physicians were simply gratified to see their young cancer patients survive, but as the patients started living longer we began to see side effects from the new therapies that were helping them live," said Dr. George Buchanan, professor of pediatrics. "And we've only had modern cancer therapy for the last 30 years, meaning we're still learning about these side effects every day."

Many of the long-term effects from modern cancer therapy are subtler than side effects seen years ago, said Dr. Buchanan. Late effects of therapy can include second cancers, heart and lung disease, infertility, obesity, hypertension and endocrine dysfunction. Almost 20 percent of survivors showed signs of psychological distress.

The study also found that women were 20 percent more likely to have general health problems from their cancer than male survivors; 40 percent more likely to experience functional impairment; 70 percent more likely to suffer limitations in their physical activities; and 60 percent more likely to suffer from anxiety as a result of their cancer experience.

"When you add it all up together, a significant amount of people suffer later in life, and we see women have even greater difficulties," Dr. Oeffinger said. "This is a wake-up call to doctors that modern therapies are effective in treating the cancer it
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Contact: Steve OBrien
Stephen.obrien@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
23-Sep-2003