Survivors of childhood cancer prone to adult disease

Patients who successfully fought cancer in childhood provide an extraordinarily high rate of chronic disease during their adult years.



Patients who successfully fought cancer in childhood provide an extraordinarily high rate of chronic disease during their adult years, according to the study published.

The research from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published in 1700 tracked adult survivors of childhood cancer, and found that the vast majority were fighting one or more chronic diseases.

"The percentage of survivors with one or more chronic diseases were more common in young adult population extraordinarily high," said lead researcher Melissa Hudson and her colleagues at St. Jew Children's Research Hospital and the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis said.

The study found that 80.5% of adults were suffering from at least one chronic illness, at the age of 45 years.

The subjects in the study were the most likely to suffer from diseases of the lungs, heart, hearing, nervous or endocrine systems.

The study showed that "for childhood cancer treated earlier, a growing number of adults. At risk for health problems that will appear to increase with aging"

The researchers called for additional research, notes that "the prevalence of cancer-related toxic effects has not been well studied."

Hudson and her colleagues lifelong monitoring is beaten in order for people with cancer in childhood.

"These data underscore the need for clinically focused monitoring, both for conditions that have significant morbidity if not recognized and treated early - as a second malignancy and heart disease - and also for those who, when restored can improve the quality of life, deficits such as hearing loss and vision, "said the researchers.