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Late Effects of Childhood Leukemia Therapy

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Abstract

As survival rates for children treated for childhood cancers become significantly better, the focus is increasingly on determining the late effects of treatments and the best ways to monitor for them and prevent their occurrence. This review focuses on recent literature discussing the late effects of treatment in patients treated for acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia during childhood. The late effects of therapy for childhood leukemia include secondary malignancy, cardiotoxicity, obesity, endocrine abnormalities, reproductive changes, neurocognitive deficits, and psychosocial effects. As clinicians have become more aware of the late effects of therapy, treatment regimens have been changed to decrease late effects, but patients still require long-term follow-up for their prevention and treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Mercy Hospital, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA

    Joy M. Fulbright, Wendy S. McClellan & Keith J. August

  2. Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Children’s Mercy Hospital, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA

    Sripriya Raman

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  1. Joy M. Fulbright
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  2. Sripriya Raman
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  4. Keith J. August
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Correspondence to Joy M. Fulbright.

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Fulbright, J.M., Raman, S., McClellan, W.S. et al. Late Effects of Childhood Leukemia Therapy. Curr Hematol Malig Rep 6, 195–205 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-011-0094-x

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