Pediatric blood & cancer
-
Pediatric blood & cancer · Jun 2013
ReviewChildren's Oncology Group's 2013 blueprint for research: rare tumors.
In the US, approximately 2,000 children are diagnosed with rare cancers each year, with 5-year survival ranging from <20% for children with advanced carcinomas to >95% for children with intraocular retinoblastoma or localized germ cell tumors. During the last years, 12 clinical studies have been successfully completed in children with retinoblastoma, liver tumors, germ cell tumors, and infrequent malignancies, including therapeutic, epidemiologic, and biologic studies. Current efforts are centered in the development of large international collaborations to consolidate evidence-based definitions and risk stratifications that will support international Phase 3 clinical trials in germ cell tumors, hepatoblastoma, and other rare cancers.
-
Pediatric blood & cancer · May 2013
Assessment of potential bias from non-participation in a dynamic clinical cohort of long-term childhood cancer survivors: results from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study.
To evaluate long-term health outcomes among childhood cancer survivors, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH) has established the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE), comprised of adult survivors who undergo risk-directed clinical assessments. As in any human research study, SJLIFE participants are volunteers who may not represent the source population from which they were recruited. A lack of proportional representation could result in biased estimates of exposure-outcome associations. We compared available demographic, disease, and neighborhood level characteristics between participants and the source population to assess the potential for selection bias. ⋯ Our results indicate a lack of substantive differences in the relative frequencies of demographic, disease, or neighborhood characteristics between participants and the source population in SJLIFE, thus alleviating serious concerns about selective non-participation in this cohort. Bias in specific exposure-outcome relations is still possible and will be considered in individual analyses.
-
Pediatric blood & cancer · May 2013
National trends in incidence rates of hospitalization for stroke in children with sickle cell disease.
The success of primary stroke prevention for children with sickle cell disease (SCD) throughout the United States is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to generate national incidence rates of hospitalization for stroke in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) before and after publication of the Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP trial) in 1998. ⋯ After publication of the STOP trial and hydroxyurea licensure in 1998, the incidence of hospitalization for stroke in children with SCD decreased across the United States, suggesting that primary stroke prevention has been effective nationwide, but opportunity for improvement remains.
-
Pediatric blood & cancer · May 2013
Factors associated with poor quality of life in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma.
Previous studies of health-related quality of life (QoL) in childhood cancer survivors have hardly focused on factors associated with poor QoL. ⋯ Significantly more LTSs than age-matched NORMs experienced poor QoL. Clinically significant associations with fatigue, anxiety, depression, obesity and insomnia were observed, which may be amenable for interventions, and thereby improvement of QoL in LTSs.
-
Pediatric blood & cancer · Apr 2013
An fMRI investigation of working memory and its relationship with cardiorespiratory fitness in pediatric posterior fossa tumor survivors who received cranial radiation therapy.
The present study investigated the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and executive functioning in pediatric brain tumor survivors who received cranial radiation. This population is known to show executive dysfunction and lower rates of aerobic exercise compared to peers. ⋯ This study provides preliminary evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness may be related to executive functioning, particularly working memory, in pediatric brain tumor survivors. Descriptions of the brain regions recruited for working memory by pediatric brain tumor survivors may be used to inform future interventions or indicators of treatment efficacy.