Risk and Protective Factors of Psychosocial Functioning in Survivors of Childhood Cancer: Results of the DCCSS-LATER Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the association between psychosocial risk and protective factors and a wide range of psychosocial outcomes including emotional, social, cognitive, and physical domains in childhood cancer survivors (CCS). METHODS: CCS from the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (DCCSS)-LATER cohort (diagnosed 1963-2001) part 2 (age ≥ 18 years, diagnosed < 18 years, ≥ 5 years since diagnosis) completed questionnaires on psychosocial risk and protective factors (Benefit and Burden Scale, Illness Cognition Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Impact of Cancer Scale), and psychosocial outcomes (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Self-Rating Scale for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, TNO-AZL Questionnaire for Adult Health-Related Quality of Life, and Short Form-36). Associations were assessed with regression analysis, adjusting for attained age, sex, number of health conditions, and time since diagnosis, while correcting for multiple testing (p < 0.004). RESULTS: A total of 1382 CCS participated, all diagnosed ≥ 15 years ago. The mean age of participating CCS was 36 years, and 51% were female. Perceived benefit and burden, acceptance, and helplessness, self-esteem and social support were associated with the psychosocial outcomes. In the models including all psychosocial factors, most associations with psychosocial outcomes were seen for self-esteem (10×), and perceived burden (9×). Self-esteem (all ß ≤ 0.47) and perceived burden (all ß ≤ 0.38) demonstrated strongest associations of medium/large size. CONCLUSIONS: Perceptions of childhood cancer, illness cognitions, self-esteem, and social support play a role in explaining psychosocial functioning in CCS, outweighing the influence of socio-demographic and medical variables. Addressing negative perceptions and reducing feelings of helplessness, while promoting acceptance, self-esteem, and social support, could provide intervention targets for CCS who encounter psychosocial challenges.

The impact of clinically relevant health conditions on psychosocial outcomes in survivors of childhood cancer: results of the DCCSS-LATER study.

PURPOSE: Investigate the association between presence, number and type of clinically relevant health conditions and a range of psychosocial outcomes (emotional, social, cognitive, physical) in survivors of childhood cancer (CCS). METHODS: CCS from the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (DCCSS)-LATER cohort (diagnosed between 1963-2001, attained age ≥ 18, diagnosed < 18, ≥ 5 years since diagnosis) completed a questionnaire on health conditions (2013-2014), and questionnaires on psychosocial outcomes (2017-2020): Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Short form 36, TNO-AZL Questionnaire for Adult Health-Related Quality of Life, and the Self-Rating Scale for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Associations among health conditions and psychosocial outcomes were assessed with regression analysis, adjusting for attained age, sex, and time since diagnosis, and adjusting for multiple testing (p < 0.004). RESULTS: A total of 1437 CCS, mean age 36.3 years, 51.1% female, ≥ 15 years since diagnosis, completed questionnaires on health and psychosocial outcomes. CCS with a clinically relevant health condition, and those with more conditions had worse emotional, social, and physical outcomes; regression coefficients were small to moderate. CCS with gastro-intestinal conditions, endocrine, nervous systems, eye, or ear conditions, and especially those with secondary malignant neoplasms, reported worse psychosocial functioning; regression coefficients were small/moderate to large. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Health care professionals should be aware of the increased risk for psychosocial problems among CCS with health conditions, especially for survivors with secondary malignant neoplasms, gastro-intestinal, endocrine, nervous system, eye, and ear conditions. CCS may benefit from psychological interventions to develop coping strategies to manage health conditions and psychosocial consequences of the cancer trajectory.

The cumulative burden of self-reported, clinically relevant outcomes in long-term childhood cancer survivors and implications for survivorship care: A DCCSS LATER study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate how cumulative burden of clinically relevant, self-reported outcomes in childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) compares to a sibling control group and to explore how the burden corresponds to levels of care proposed by existing risk stratifications. METHODS: The authors invited 5925 5-year survivors from the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (DCCSS LATER) cohort and their 1066 siblings to complete a questionnaire on health outcomes. Health outcomes were validated by self-reported medication use or medical record review. Missing data on clinically relevant outcomes in CCSs for whom no questionnaire data were available were imputed with predictive mean matching. We calculated the mean cumulative count (MCC) for clinically relevant outcomes. Furthermore, we calculated 30-year MCC for groups of CCSs based on primary cancer diagnosis and treatment, ranked 30-year MCC, and compared the ranking to levels of care according to existing risk stratifications. RESULTS: At median 18.5 years after 5-year survival, 46% of CCSs had at least one clinically relevant outcome. CCSs experienced 2.8 times more health conditions than siblings (30-year MCC = 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74-0.85 vs. 30-year MCC = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.25-0.34). CCSs' burden of clinically relevant outcomes consisted mainly of endocrine and vascular conditions and varied by primary cancer type. The ranking of the 30-year MCC often did not correspond with levels of care in existing risk stratifications. CONCLUSIONS: CCSs experience a high cumulative burden of clinically relevant outcomes that was not completely reflected by current risk stratifications. Choices for survivorship care should extend beyond primary tumor and treatment parameters, and should consider also including CCSs' current morbidity.

Adverse late health outcomes among children treated with 3D radiotherapy techniques: Study design of the Dutch pediatric 3D-RT study.

BACKGROUND: Adverse late health outcomes after multimodal treatment for pediatric cancer are diverse and of prime interest. Currently available evidence and survivorship care guidelines are largely based on studies addressing side-effects of two dimensional planned radiotherapy. AIMS: The Dutch pediatric 3D-planned radiotherapy (3D-RT) study aims to gain insight in the long-term health outcomes among children who had radiotherapy in the 3D era. Here, we describe the study design, data-collection methods, and baseline cohort characteristics. METHODS AND RESULTS: The 3D-RT study represents an expansion of the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor study (DCCSS) LATER cohort, including pediatric cancer patients diagnosed during 2000-2012, who survived at least 5 years after initial diagnosis and 2 years post external beam radiotherapy. Individual cancer treatment parameters were obtained from medical files. A national infrastructure for uniform collection and archival of digital radiotherapy files (Computed Tomography [CT]-scans, delineations, plan, and dose files) was established. Health outcome information, including subsequent tumors, originated from medical records at the LATER outpatient clinics, and national registry-linkage. With a median follow-up of 10.9 (interquartile range [IQR]: 7.9-14.3) years after childhood cancer diagnosis, 711 eligible survivors were identified. The most common cancer types were Hodgkin lymphoma, medulloblastoma, and nephroblastoma. Most survivors received radiotherapy directed to the head/cranium only, the craniospinal axis, or the abdominopelvic region. CONCLUSION: The 3D-RT study will provide knowledge on the risk of adverse late health outcomes and radiation-associated dose-effect relationships. This information is valuable to guide follow-up care of childhood cancer survivors and to refine future treatment protocols.

Questionnaire- and linkage-based outcomes in Dutch childhood cancer survivors: Methodology of the DCCSS LATER study part 1.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors are at risk for developing long-term adverse health outcomes. To identify the risk of and risk factors for specific health outcomes, well-established cohorts are needed with detailed information on childhood cancer diagnosis, treatment, and health outcomes. We describe the design, methodology, characteristics, and data availability of the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study LATER cohort (1963-2001) part 1; questionnaire and linkage studies. METHODS: The LATER cohort includes 5-year childhood cancer survivors, diagnosed in the period 1963-2001, and before the age of 18 in any of the seven former pediatric oncology centers in the Netherlands. Information on health outcomes from survivors and invited siblings of survivors was collected by questionnaires and linkages to medical registries. RESULTS: In total, 6165 survivors were included in the LATER cohort. Extensive data on diagnosis and treatment have been collected. Information on a variety of health outcomes has been ascertained by the LATER questionnaire study and linkages with several registries for subsequent tumors, health care use, and hospitalizations. CONCLUSION: Research with data of the LATER cohort will provide new insights into risks of and risk factors for long-term health outcomes. This can enhance risk stratification for childhood cancer survivors and inform surveillance guidelines and development of interventions to prevent (the impact of) long-term adverse health outcomes. The data collected will be a solid baseline foundation for future follow-up studies.

Late Toxicity After 3-Dimensional External Beam Radiotherapy Among Children With Cancer: A Systematic Review.

Radiotherapy has evolved from 2-dimensional conventional radiotherapy (2D-RT) to 3-dimensional planned radiotherapy (3D-RT). Because 3D-RT improves conformity, an altered late health outcomes risk profile is anticipated. Here, we systematically reviewed the current literature on late toxicity after 3D-RT in children treated for cancer. PubMed was searched for studies describing late toxicity after 3D-RT for childhood cancer (below 21 y). Late toxicity was defined as somatic health outcomes occurring ≥90 days after treatment. We identified 13 eligible studies, describing most frequently head/neck area tumors. Included studies reported on crude frequencies of late toxicities including subsequent tumors and conditions of organ systems. Three studies offered a global assessment of the full spectrum of late toxicity; one study compared toxicities after 2D-RT and 3D-RT. Incidence rates were typically not provided. Heterogeneity in study characteristics, small study sizes and short follow-up times precluded multivariable modeling and pooling of data. In conclusion, among the first pediatric cohorts treated with 3D-RT, a broad variety of late toxicity is reported; precise estimates of incidence, and contributions of risk factors are unclear. Continued systematic evaluation of well-defined health outcomes in survivors treated with 3D-RT, including proton therapy, is needed to optimize evidence-based care for children with cancer and survivors.

Prevalence and risk factors of cancer-related fatigue in childhood cancer survivors: A DCCSS LATER study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer-related fatigue is a debilitating late effect after treatment for childhood cancer. The prevalence of fatigue in childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) and associated factors for fatigue has varied widely in previous studies. Two important aspects of cancer-related fatigue, its severity and chronicity, are often not assessed. This study investigated the prevalence of, and risk factors for, severe chronic fatigue (CF) in a national cohort of Dutch CCSs. METHODS: In this study, 2810 CCSs (5-year survivors of all childhood malignancies diagnosed between 1963 and 2001 with a current age of 12-65 years) and 1040 sibling controls were included. CF was assessed with the Short Fatigue Questionnaire and was defined as a score ≥ 18 and persistence of fatigue for ≥6 months. Cancer- and treatment-related characteristics, current health problems, and demographic and lifestyle variables were assessed as potential risk factors for CF via multivariable logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: In adult CCSs and sibling controls (≥18 years old), the prevalence of CF was 26.1% and 14.1%, respectively (P < .001). In adolescent CCSs and sibling controls (<18 years old), the prevalence of CF was 10.9% and 3.2%, respectively. Female gender (odds ratio [OR], 2.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.73-2.62), unemployment (OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.67-2.85), having 1 or more health problems (OR for 1-2, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.18-1.87; OR for >2, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.50-3.21), and a central nervous system diagnosis (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.17-2.60) were significantly associated with CF in adult CCSs. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that CCSs, regardless of their cancer diagnosis, report CF more often than sibling controls. This study provides new evidence for the prevalence of fatigue in CCSs.

Large variation in assessment and outcome definitions to describe the burden of long-term morbidity in childhood cancer survivors: A systematic review.

We systematically reviewed outcome assessment methods, outcome classification, and severity grading of reported outcomes in studies investigating the burden of physical long-term morbidity in childhood cancer survivors (CCS). A MEDLINE and EMBASE search identified 56 studies reporting on three or more types of health conditions in 5-year CCS, for which information was extracted on outcome types and classification, methods of outcome ascertainment, and severity grading. There was substantial variability in classification and types of health conditions reported and in methods of outcome ascertainment. Only 59% of the included studies applied severity grading, mainly the common terminology criteria of adverse events. This large variation in assessment and definition of the burden of physical long-term morbidity in CCS challenges interpretation, comparison, and pooling data across studies. Global collaboration is needed to standardize assessments and harmonize definitions of long-term physical morbidity and associated outcomes in childhood cancer survivorship research.

A detailed insight in the high risks of hospitalizations in long-term childhood cancer survivors-A Dutch LATER linkage study.

BACKGROUND: Insight in hospitalizations in long-term childhood cancer survivors (CCS) is useful to understand the impact of long-term morbidity. We aimed to investigate hospitalization rates and underlying types of diagnoses in CCS compared to matched controls, and to investigate the determinants. METHODS: We linked 5,650 five-year CCS from the Dutch nationwide Dutch LATER cohort and 109,605 age- and sex-matched controls to the Dutch Hospital Discharge register, which contained detailed information on inpatient hospitalizations from 1995-2016. Relative hospitalization rates (RHRs) were calculated using a Poisson regression model. Adjusting for multiple hospitalizations per person via a Poisson model for generalized estimated equations, we investigated determinants for hospitalizations for all types of underlying diagnoses among CCS. RESULTS: CCS were twice as likely to be hospitalized as reference persons (hospitalization rate 178 and 78 per 1,000 person-years respectively; RHR 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9-2.2). Although CCS had more hospitalizations for 17 types of underlying diagnoses, they were especially more likely to be hospitalized for endocrine conditions (RHR: 6.0, 95% CI 4.6-7.7), subsequent neoplasms (RHR: 5.6, 95% CI 4.6-6.7) and symptoms without underlying diagnoses (RHR: 5.2, 95% CI 4.6-5.8). For those types of underlying diagnoses, female sex and radiotherapy were determinants. CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights in the high risk of hospitalizations for many types of underlying diagnoses in CCS and treatment related determinants. CCS are especially at high risk for hospitalizations for endocrine conditions, subsequent neoplasms and symptoms without an underlying diagnosis. This new knowledge is important for survivorship care and to identify possible preventable hospitalizations among CCS.

The Dutch LATER physical outcomes set for self-reported data in survivors of childhood cancer.

PURPOSES: Studies investigating self-reported long-term morbidity in childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are using heterogeneous outcome definitions, which compromises comparability and include (un)treated asymptomatic and symptomatic outcomes. We generated a Dutch LATER core set of clinically relevant physical outcomes, based on self-reported data. Clinically relevant outcomes were defined as outcomes associated with clinical symptoms or requiring medical treatment. METHODS: First, we generated a draft outcome set based on existing questionnaires embedded in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, British Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, and Dutch LATER study. We added specific outcomes reported by survivors in the Dutch LATER questionnaire. Second, we selected a list of clinical relevant outcomes by agreement among a Dutch LATER experts team. Third, we compared the proposed clinically relevant outcomes to the severity grading of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). RESULTS: A core set of 74 self-reported long-term clinically relevant physical morbidity outcomes was established. Comparison to the CTCAE showed that 36% of these clinically relevant outcomes were missing in the CTCAE. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: This proposed core outcome set of clinical relevant outcomes for self-reported data will be used to investigate the self-reported morbidity in the Dutch LATER study. Furthermore, this Dutch LATER outcome set can be used as a starting point for international harmonization for long-term outcomes in survivors of childhood cancer.

The involvement of primary care physicians in care for childhood cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk of developing long-term morbidity, which is likely to be presented to a primary care physician (PCP). Therefore, insight into CCS's PCP-based health care use is needed. We investigated the volume and underlying health problems of PCP-based health care use and the determinants for PCP-based health care use in CCS. PROCEDURE: Data from a Dutch cohort of 6018 eligible five-year CCS were linked to the Nivel Primary Care database, which contains detailed data from a representative sample of 10% of all Dutch PCPs. Per CCS, two matched controls were selected. Negative binomial regression was performed to compare the annual number of contacts between CCS and controls, and to identify determinants for PCP-based care use among CCS. RESULTS: This study included 602 CCS and 1204 controls. CCS were 1.3 times more likely to contact their PCP than controls (95% CI, 1.2-1.5), up to 1.5 times at attained age over 40 years (95% CI, 1.2-1.8). CCS were 4.9 times more likely to contact their PCP for new malignancies, 3.1 for hematological conditions, and 2.8 for endocrine conditions. Female sex, higher attained age, and treatment with radiotherapy were determinants for having more PCP contacts. CONCLUSIONS: PCPs play an important role in care for CCS. CCS use more PCP-based care than matched controls, mainly for severe conditions such as malignancies, hematological, and endocrine conditions. Our results emphasize the importance of disseminating the current knowledge on long-term morbidity in CCS and on their optimal follow-up care among PCPs.

The incidence and treatment of bleeding episodes in non-severe haemophilia A patients with inhibitors.

The development of an inhibitory antibody in non-severe haemophilia A patients may aggravate the bleeding phenotype considerably. Effective treatment of bleeding episodes may be challenging, with ensuing severe complications. At present, evidence is scarce for optimal treatment of bleeding episodes in this patient group. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and the treatment of bleeding episodes in inhibitor patients in a population-based unselected cohort of non-severe haemophilia A patients with clinically relevant inhibitors. Data were available for 100 of the 107 non-severe haemophilia A patients (factor VIII (FVIII) baseline, 2-40 IU/dl) from 29 centres in Europe and one centre in Australia who had developed a clinically relevant inhibitor between 1980 and 2011. The majority (89 %) of the patients were treated during the inhibitor period for bleeding episodes or a surgical intervention: 66 % needed treatment for bleeding episodes, at a median annual bleeding rate (ABR) of 1.1 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.1-2.5) and a median total of 2 (IQR 1-6) bleeding episodes. Compared to the median ABR before inhibitor development of 0.095 bleeds per year (IQR 0.02-0.42), the increase in ABR is more than a 10-fold. More than 90 % of the bleeding episodes were treated with only one type of product, most frequently (51 %) FVIII concentrates. This study provides the incidence of bleeding episodes and treatment choices in non-severe haemophilia A patients with inhibitors. The 10-fold increase to a median ABR of 1.1 episodes per year emphasizes the impact of inhibitor development for non-severe haemophilia A patients.

[A baby with spots and a fever]. / Een baby met vlekken op de benen en koorts.

A 9-months-old boy, who had had fever and otitis media during 10 days, developed oedema of both legs and erythematolivid, partly confluent papules on his legs and right auricle. We diagnosed him with 'acute haemorrhagic oedema of infancy'. This is a benign, self-limiting vasculitis of the dermis that does not require treatment.