Loading...
More than 80% of children in whom cancer is diagnosed now survive at least 10 years, but often with excess risks for morbidity, disability, and early death. To better understand the burden of chronic disease in this population, U.S. researchers analyzed the cumulative incidence of 168 nonpsychiatric chronic health conditions in a cohort of 5522 adults who survived at least 10 years after diagnosis of childhood cancer between 1961 and 2004. Patient outcomes were matched with those of 272 age- and sex-matched community controls. Patients were stratified by primary cancer type, treatment, and treatment era.
By age 50, 99.9% of cancer survivors had chronic health conditions, and 96.0% had at least 1 grade 3 to 5 (severe or disabling, life-threat…