Barriers to long-term follow-up in pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma survivors.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors have an increased risk of late effects following treatment. Barriers at the patient, provider, and payor level adversely affect adherence to long-term follow-up. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of HL survivors diagnosed from 1999 to 2014 at Texas Children's Hospital. HL survivors were considered lost to follow-up if there were no documented visits to Texas Children's Cancer Center Long-Term Survivor (LTS) clinic for 2 or more years after their last LTS clinic visit. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore factors contributing to loss to follow-up. Reasons for not attending subsequent LTS visits were assessed by phone interviews in a subset of lost to follow-up patients. RESULTS: There were 120 HL survivors who had at least one LTS clinic visit in this timeframe; 64 (53%) were classified as lost to follow-up, and of these, 23 (36%) were interviewed. Eleven (47%) indicated that the reason for failure to follow-up was lack of or inadequate insurance, and seven (30%) stated they were unaware of the importance of continued follow-up. Loss to follow-up was associated with lack of insurance, earlier diagnosis, and lack of comorbidities in univariate analyses. Only earlier year of diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] 0.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.7-0.9, p = .01) and lack of insurance (OR 22.2, 95% CI: 4-123, p < .001) were associated with loss to follow-up in multivariable analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Insurance status and awareness of the need for long-term follow-up care are key factors associated with loss to follow-up in survivors of HL. Targeted education and low-cost options for survivorship care are potential strategies for improving adherence to long-term follow-up care in HL survivors.

A brief review of the current knowledge on environmental toxicants and risk of pediatric cancers.

The incidence of pediatric cancers has steadily increased since 1975, which could suggest that other exogenous factors are accounting for an increasing proportion of cases. There has been growing concern over environmental exposures (i.e., toxicants) the on development of pediatric cancers. However, identifying environmental exposures on childhood cancer risk has been challenging because these outcomes are infrequent compared to cancer in adults, and it is difficult to estimate exposure during specific critical periods of development (e.g., pre-conception, in utero, early childhood) that are likely more important for childhood cancer development. Here, we summarize the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Group 1 agents (toxicants known to be carcinogenic to humans), their routes of exposure, current methods for risk mitigation, and what is known of their associations with pediatric cancer risk. Our review suggests that environmental toxicants are important and potentially modifiable risk factors that need to be more fully explored in children and adolescents.

Medical radiation exposure and risk of sporadic retinoblastoma.

BACKGROUND: While there is evidence that parental exposure to medical radiation is associated with increased risk of sporadic bilateral retinoblastoma in offspring, this association has not been confirmed. Additionally, the relationship between paternal and maternal exposures and sporadic unilateral retinoblastoma has not been fully investigated. PROCEDURE: Data were obtained from two large multicenter case-control studies of retinoblastoma. For the paternal analyses, 268 bilateral cases, 155 unilateral cases, and 358 controls were included. For the maternal analyses, 298 bilateral cases, 184 unilateral cases, and 404 controls were included. Logistical regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to evaluate the associations between parental exposures to medical radiation and sporadic retinoblastoma, while adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Paternal exposure to medical radiation was not significantly associated with sporadic bilateral retinoblastoma in offspring. However, increasing paternal exposure to gonadal radiation was associated with increased risk of unilateral retinoblastoma (P-trend = .03). Maternal history of upper and lower gastrointestinal (GI) series was associated with bilateral retinoblastoma (OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-3.2 and OR = 6.9, 95% CI: 2.9-16.4, respectively). However, there was no association between maternal exposure to medical radiation and unilateral retinoblastoma in offspring. CONCLUSION: Our investigation adds to the evidence that medical radiation exposure in fathers as well as mothers prior to pregnancy may increase the risk of germline alterations leading to the development of retinoblastoma in their offspring. However, our findings could point to a more complex etiological framework for this important pediatric malignancy.

Preferences for survivorship education and delivery among Latino and non-Latino childhood cancer survivors and caregivers.

PURPOSE: To assess survivor and parent perceptions of the long-term survivor visit and preferences regarding accessing health information, survivorship education, and support networks in rural and metropolitan regions of Texas. METHODS: Leveraging the multi-institutional Survivorship and Access to Care for Latinos to Understand Disparities (SALUD) cohort, we administered a 26-item bilingual survey to adult survivors of childhood cancer and parents of younger survivors. Characteristics and responses were compared between survivors vs. parents and Latinos vs. non-Latinos using a t test or Fisher exact test. Odds ratios for the outcomes of interest were calculated with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: We received 138 responses from 59 survivors and 79 parents of survivors treated at three Texas pediatric cancer hospitals/clinics. Parents were more likely than survivors to seek survivorship information from other survivors or parents of survivors (OR=6.32, 95% CI 1.78, 22.47), and non-Latinos preferred social media as an educational resource (OR=3.70, CI 1.58, 8.68). Survivors, particularly Latino survivors, preferred short videos as a mode of survivorship education delivery. Highest topic priorities for survivorship education were 'risk for second cancers' and 'diet, nutrition, and exercise.' All parents and survivors who rated survivor physical and mental health as 'fair' or 'poor' identified as Latino. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight differences in perceived health status between Latino and non-Latino survivors and support the development of adapted survivorship education content to address the specific needs of Latino survivors. Implications for Cancer Survivors Results of this study suggest a need for survivorship educational materials in multiple formats and that are tailored to the style, content, language preferences, and health literacy status of the target population.

Candida tropicalis Thyroiditis Presenting With Thyroid Storm in a Pediatric Patient With Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Suppurative thyroiditis is uncommon in the pediatric population and particularly rare to be caused by fungi. We present a case of Candida tropicalis thyroiditis in an adolescent male with acute lymphocytic leukemia that led to disseminated candidiasis, thyroid storm and eventual total thyroidectomy for source control.