A new study suggest that the majority of childhood cancer survivors aren't getting adequate follow-up care later in life. While childhood cancer treatments may save lives, they also create problems of their own, including the risk of new cancers created by treatment-related radiation. In particular, as many as 20 percent of young women and girls treated with chest radiation, commonly used for treating Hodgkin's disease, will develop breast cancer. Another risk: as many has half of the children treated with high-dose anthracycline-based chemotherapy may develop heart problems in the future. However, despite these concerns, few pediatric cancer survivors are getting regular follow-up care as adults. In fact, 68 percent of children treated for pediatric cancer got no follow-up care at all, according to the study, which draws on data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.
To learn more about the study:
- read this USA Today article