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Use of endocrinological and neurological medication among 5-year survivors of young onset brain tumors

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Abstract

The burden of late-effects for young onset brain tumor (BT) survivors needs more careful evaluation. Our aim was to assess the need for endocrinological and neurological medication among this specific group. We identified 5-year survivors diagnosed at the age of 0–24 years between 1988 and 2004 from the Finnish Cancer Registry (N = 602). Data on endocrinological and neurological drug purchases were collected from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Five years after diagnosis the most commonly purchased drugs had been: antiepileptics (44.8 %), systemic hydrocortisone (18.3 %), female sex hormones (17.6 %), thyroid hormones (11.2 %), and growth hormone (10.0 %). The survivors showed an increased hazard ratio (HR) for a need for new types of drugs still 5 years after diagnosis. Thyroid hormones (HR 10.6, 95 % CI 5.1–21.4), estrogens (HR 8.0, 95 % CI 2.1–25.7), and antiepileptics (HR 6.3, 95 % CI 3.4–11.2) were bought with high frequencies. Irradiation increased the hazard for drug-purchases other than antiepileptics. Cumulative incidence of purchases of estrogens or androgens increased still 15 years after diagnosis. The cumulative incidence of purchasing thyroid hormones and antiepileptics showed continuous increase for the youngest group, whereas survivors diagnosed at 15–24 years of age reached stable level before 15 years from diagnosis. The need for new medication continued more than a decade after BT diagnosis. Especially the need for new thyroid or sex hormone medication among childhood BT survivors may emerge long after diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge all the Finnish clinical colleagues, nurses and pathology laboratory personnel, for treating and registering cancer patients from 1988 through 2004.

Funding

This study was funded by Foundation of Nona and Kullervo Väre, Children’s Cancer Foundation Väre, Children’s cancer trust in memoriam of Emilia Heinonen, The National Graduate School of Clinical Investigation, The foundation of Wilho Kyttä and the Foundation for Pediatric Research. Study sponsors had no involvement in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, PO Box 52, 20521, Turku, Finland

    Mirja Erika Gunn, Marika Grönroos & Päivi Maria Lähteenmäki

  2. Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, PO Box 52, 20521, Turku, Finland

    Tuire Lähdesmäki

  3. Finnish Cancer Registry, Unioninkatu 22, 00130, Helsinki, Finland

    Nea Malila

  4. School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, 33014, Tampere, Finland

    Nea Malila

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Tampere University Hospital, PO Box 2000, 33521, Tampere, Finland

    Mikko Arola

  6. Clinical Research Centre, Turku University Hospital, PO Box 52, Turku, Finland

    Jaakko Matomäki

Authors
  1. Mirja Erika Gunn
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  2. Tuire Lähdesmäki
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  3. Nea Malila
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  7. Päivi Maria Lähteenmäki
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Correspondence to Mirja Erika Gunn.

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Other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval for the research project of which this study is part of was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland.

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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Gunn, M.E., Lähdesmäki, T., Malila, N. et al. Use of endocrinological and neurological medication among 5-year survivors of young onset brain tumors. J Neurooncol 128, 473–479 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-016-2134-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-016-2134-9

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