Kids with cancer feel middle aged before their time – new study

Young adults who have survived cancer often feel middle-aged before their time, according to a new study from the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, which found that kids who survive cancer do not necessarily return to normal health as they grow up.

The study looked at data on thousands of U.S. survivors of childhood cancer. Overall health-related quality of life scores in the 18- to 29-year-old age group of study participants were found to be similar to adults in their 40s in the general population.

Senior study author Dr. Lisa Diller said, “Our findings indicate survivors’ accelerated aging, and also help us understand the health-related risks associated with having had cancer as a child.”

Diller said that the lower quality of life scores were actually associated with chronic disease after cancer treatment, not with the pediatric cancer history itself. The more chronic health problems the cancer survivors had, the lower their quality-of-life scores.

Prior research has shown that survivors of childhood cancers are at increased risk for other serious health problems such as lung disease, heart disease, infertility and further cancers and chronic conditions. These problems are mainly associated with cancer treatment such as radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. When the researchers reviewed one study that contained more than 7,000 childhood cancer survivors, they found that only 20 percent had no chronic conditions.

Diller said that if it is possible to prevent treatment-related conditions by using different types of therapy to treat cancer, “then childhood cancer will become an acute, rather than a chronic, illness.”

The study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on April 21, and the findings were summarized in a press release issued April 21. It was supported by the American Lebanese-Syrian Associated Charities and the National Cancer Institute.