Childhood cancer survivors could be at a higher risk of early age-related diseases

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-03-21 02:00

International

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

It’s important to monitor the health of childhood cancer survivors on a different timescale to the rest of the population, according to international researchers who looked at the risk of aging-associated health conditions such as breast cancer, heart failure, stroke, and more. The team found that five-year survivors of childhood cancer were 2.7-times more likely to develop one of the conditions before age 65, with onset occurring around 17.7 years earlier than the general population. The findings suggest that survivors may experience accelerated aging throughout their lives, and might be prone to age-related diseases up to two decades earlier than the general population, and the authors add that it would be helpful to screen survivors decades earlier, and ensure survivors have timely access to care.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Oncology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Boston Children’s Hospital, USA

Funder: This work was supported by the American Cancer Society (RSG-16-018-01 – CPHPS) and the National Cancer Institute (R01CA227576 and U24CA55727). The St Jude Children’s Research Hospital was also supported by the National Cancer Institute (CA21765) and the American Lebanese-Syrian Associated Charities. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Yeh reported grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Cancer Society during the conduct of the study. Dr Stratton reported grants from NIH during the conduct of the study. Dr Armstrong reported grants from NIH during the conduct of the study. Dr Chow reported grants from NIH during the conduct of the study. Dr Leisenring reported grants from NIH during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

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