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Five-year survival rates following diagnoses of childhood cancer have improved substantially during the past few decades. However, less is known about the health status of childhood cancer survivors. In this study, U.S. researchers compared self-reported health status among >14,000 adults (age range, 18–48; median age, 27) who were treated for childhood cancers between 1970 and 1999 and who survived ≥5 years after initial diagnoses; mean age at diagnosis was 9.5 years.
From the 1970s through the 1990s, use of several potentially debilitating interventions (e.g., cranial and chest radiotherapy, amputations for osteosarcoma) decreased. Cumulative chemotherapy doses also decreased over time (although use of chemotherapy agents increased). Howev…