Survivors of childhood central nervous system
malignancies had a higher risk for neurocognitive impairment that was
associated with lower socioeconomic achievements in adulthood, according to
recently published data.
As part of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study being
conducted at nine major medical centers, researchers assessed neurocognitive
functioning in 785 adult survivors of childhood CNS malignancies and compared
them with 5,870 survivors of non-CNS malignancies and 379 siblings without
cancer. They assessed neurocognitive functioning using a 25-item neurocognitive
questionnaire that considered four factors, including task efficiency,
emotional regulation, organization and memory. The researchers noted that in a
small number of cases, CNS cancer survivors had assistance completing the
questionnaire.
Survivors of CNS malignancy reported greater
neurocognitive impairment in all factors compared with those who survived
non-CNS cancers and with siblings (P<.01). They reported the greatest
impairments for memory and task efficiency.
More than half of CNS cancer survivors reported problems
with at least one task efficiency problem, which the researchers wrote was
three times greater than the sibling group.
Survivors of CNS malignancy who reported medical
complications, including hearing deficits, paralysis and cerebrovascular
incidents, had a greater likelihood of reporting deficits on each of the test
factors.
As assessed by multiple linear regression analyses,
those CNS cancer survivors with lower scores demonstrated lower educational
achievement (P<.01), lower household income (P<.001), less
full-time employment (P<.001) and fewer marriages (P<.001).
“This underscores the need for continued attention
to mitigating the long-term negative effects of CNS malignancies and their
treatment,” the researchers wrote.
Ellenberg L. Neuropsychology. 2009;23:705-717.
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