[Late Sequelae in a Group of Children and Adolescents Treated for Cancer Between 1981 and 1986 in Switzerland]

An ever-growing number of children with malignant diseases can today be cured and will have prolonged survival. Their quality of life, which can be altered by a substantial number of late effects of the disease or its treatment, is a prominent field of long-term assessment. In a cross-sectional study based on clinical and paraclinical parameters and covering 59 children and young adults treated between 1981 and 1986 for a childhood malignant disease, we investigated late effects in the long-term survivors. Late effects were found in 36 (61%) of these patients; their spectrum is wide, but most often affected are the CNS and the musculoskeletal system. Two thirds of the patients have mild or moderate and one third severe problems. The frequency of the late effects and the type of problem vary greatly according to the initial diagnosis; our results show a significant difference of severity according to the number of affected systems (p < 0.05). The results of our study match those of other similar reports and confirm the high frequency of late effects in survivors of pediatric cancer. A prospective study, assessing a large population of patients, is needed to determine the underlying causes and to develop primary and secondary prevention strategies.