45-year-olds who have survived childhood cancer had five times more visits to their GP or hospital for cardiovascular disease, and more visits to health care facilities for infections, later cancers or immune system disorders .
Those who received chemotherapy and radiotherapy had twice the overall admissions at age 45
The research, published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health-Europe, was carried out using data from 3,466 people in England with previous cancer at the age of 25 who were compared with a control group of 13,517. To come up with the results, the members of the University College London (United Kingdom) took into account the type of cancer that the participants had had and the treatment they had received to send it.
Their findings indicated that the burden of future health effects was greater in those who had been treated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and less in patients who underwent surgery. Specifically, they found that those who received chemotherapy and radiotherapy had twice the general admissions at age 45 than those who underwent surgery, and seven times more when it came to cardiovascular diseases.
80% of childhood cancer cases are overcome
In addition, an increased risk of having cancer for the second time and of developing more aggressive, even metastatic, tumors was observed. And it is that, more than 80% of children and young people who have been diagnosed with cancer outgrow it, but go on to have medical care needs due to the effects caused by cancer or its treatment.
Those who had survived cancer and developed cardiovascular conditions lived an average of 10 years less than survivors who did not, while those with immune diseases and infections lost an average of 6.7 years of life. Subsequent cancer was linked to 11 years of life lost.
Wai Hoong Chang, lead author of the study explained that “combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy are effective in saving lives, but are associated with a lower quality of life in the long term. Our study suggests that using lower doses could reduce these long-term effects.”
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