How surviving cancer as a child affects lifelong health

hand of a sick child with saline solution - People who survive cancer early in their life have higher risks of ill health as they grow older, and these risks vary according to the cancer type and how the cancer was treated, a new study by UCL researchers has found. The researchers are now calling for these long-term health effects to be considered when young people and their families discuss treatment options with their healthcare team initially. The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe , found that people who survived cancer had five times as many GP or hospital visits relating to cardiovascular disease by age 45, as a matched control group of people who had not had cancer early in life. They also had much higher numbers of healthcare visits relating to infections, disorders of the immune system, and subsequent cancers. Looking at treatment type, researchers found that the burden of late health effects was highest for people treated with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and lowest for cancer survivors who only had surgery. For instance, people treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy had more than twice the number of hospital admissions overall by aged 45 than those who just had surgery, and seven times the number of GP or hospital visits relating to cardiovascular disease by the same age (an average of seven healthcare encounters per person, compared to one per person). They also had an increased risk of getting cancer for the second time, and developing more aggressive (metastatic) cancer.