Abnormal Global Longitudinal Strain During Anthracycline Treatment Predicts Future Cardiotoxicity in Children.

Global longitudinal strain (GLS) is a sensitive predictor of cardiotoxicity in adults with cancer. However, the significance of abnormal GLS during childhood cancer treatment is less well-understood. The objective was to evaluate the use of GLS for predicting later cardiac dysfunction in pediatric cancer survivors exposed to high-dose anthracyclines.

A chronic eyelid lesion in a child: multi-disciplinary approach to diagnosis, treatment and management of a highly atypical histiocytic lesion.

Malignant histiocytic neoplasm with histiocytic sarcoma phenotype is a rare malignant neoplasm, distinguished by malignant cells with phenotypic characteristics of mature tissue histiocytes. Histiocytic sarcoma typically presents as a primary malignancy, although can also present as a secondary malignancy, and is rarely seen in the pediatric population. Due to the rarity of this condition, diagnosis of histiocytic sarcoma is difficult and considered a diagnosis of exclusion.

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the chest wall in an adolescent patient: A case report and brief review of the literature.

Background: Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma is a rare and aggressive bone tumor with few reports of primary tumor in the chest wall.

Case: We report a case of a 17-year-old male presenting with back pain and a posterior mediastinal mass. Imaging demonstrated what was thought to be a benign chondral tumor.

Efficacy of a Stress Management Intervention for Mothers of Children with Cancer.

Objective: Mothers of children with cancer confront life stress that can impact their psychological and physical health and, in turn, the health of the family. Recommendations advocate preemptive stress-management interventions; however, few studies have investigated their efficacy. Here, we report results of a parallel randomized pilot trial examining health benefits of a stress management intervention designed to teach coping skills.

Sedation practices in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: The 5-year survival for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is greater than 90%. One late effect of pediatric ALL associated with numerous long-term difficulties is neurocognitive deficits. The experience at our institution, as well as conversations with oncologists at other institutions, suggests an increase in the use of sedation during lumbar punctures (LPs) for treatment of pediatric ALL.

Solid organ transplantation after treatment for childhood cancer: a retrospective cohort analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: Serious chronic medical conditions occur in childhood cancer survivors. We aimed to investigate incidence of and risk factors for end-organ damage resulting in registration on a waiting list for or receiving a solid organ transplantation and 5-year survival following these procedures.

Methods: The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) is a retrospective cohort of individuals who survived at least 5 years after childhood cancer diagnosed at younger than 21 years of age, between Jan 1, 1970, and Dec 31, 1986, at one of 25 institutions in the USA.

Cognitive and Occupational Function in Survivors of Adolescent Cancer.

Purpose: Adolescents with cancer have unique developmental considerations. These include brain development, particularly in the frontal lobe, and a focus on completing education and entering the workforce. Cancer and treatment at this stage may prove to uniquely affect survivors' experience of cognitive and occupational function.

Shared Care of Childhood Cancer Survivors: A Telemedicine Feasibility Study.

Purpose: With an increasing number of childhood cancer survivors (CCSs), determining the best model of survivorship transition care is becoming a growing priority. Shared care between pediatric oncology and adult primary care is often necessary, making survivorship a time of transition, but effective standard models are lacking. We sought to provide a more integrated approach to transition using telemedicine.

Partnering to optimize care of childhood cancer survivors.

Familiarizing yourself with the survivorship care plan can help ensure that survivors receive proper follow-up care. Collaboration among providers is also key.

JAK2+ Essential Thrombocythemia in a Young Girl With Budd-Chiari Syndrome: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Considerations When Adult Disease Strikes the Young.

A 12-year-old female with Budd-Chiari syndrome underwent liver transplant and subsequent splenectomy. Her platelet count began to rise postoperatively after previous normal values. JAK2V617F-positive essential thrombocythemia (ET) was diagnosed.

A pilot trial of a stress management intervention for primary caregivers of children newly diagnosed with cancer: preliminary evidence that perceived social support moderates the psychosocial benefit of intervention.

Objectives: (1) To examine the acceptability and feasibility of a stress management intervention for caregivers of children recently diagnosed with cancer. (2) To explore whether caregivers with lower baseline perceived social support derive greater benefit from the intervention than those with higher perceived support.

Methods: 45 primary caregivers were randomly assigned to intervention or standard care.

Hospitalization rates among survivors of childhood cancer in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort.

Background: Chronic health conditions are common among long-term childhood cancer survivors, but hospitalization rates have not been reported. The objective of this study was to determine overall and cause-specific hospitalization rates among survivors of childhood cancer and compare rates to the U.S.

Twenty-five year follow-up of childhood Wilms tumor: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: Treatment cures over 90% of children with Wilms tumor (WT) who subsequently risk late morbidity and mortality. This study describes the 25-year outcomes of 5-year WT survivors in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS).

Procedure: The CCSS, a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study, assessed WT survivors (N = 1,256), diagnosed 1970-1986, for chronic health conditions, health status, health care utilization, socioeconomic status, subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMNs), and mortality compared to the US population and a sibling cohort (N = 4,023).

Social outcomes in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort.

Difficulties with negotiating and achieving desired social outcomes in life may be exacerbated by the experience of childhood cancer, including adverse effects from therapies used to achieve a cure. This review of previous publications from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) and other relevant literature provides insight into the prevalence of, and risk factors for, poor educational attainment, less than optimal employment status, and interpersonal relationship issues among long-term survivors of childhood cancer. The impacts of emotional health and physical disability on social outcomes are also examined.

Romantic relationships of emerging adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Objective: To assess whether childhood cancer survivors experience difficulties in their romantic relationships during emerging adulthood (18-25 years) and to identify who may be at risk for long-term social sequelae.

Methods: Emerging adult survivors of childhood cancer (n=60) and controls without a history of chronic illness (n=60) completed an online assessment of their romantic relationships, including perceived relationship satisfaction. Severity of initial treatment was rated by healthcare providers for participants with cancer.

Pediatric phase I and pharmacokinetic study of erlotinib followed by the combination of erlotinib and temozolomide: a Children's Oncology Group Phase I Consortium Study.

Purpose: We conducted a phase I and pharmacokinetic study of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib as a single agent and in combination with temozolomide in children with refractory solid tumors.

Patients And Methods: Erlotinib was administered orally once daily to cohorts of three to six children for a single 28-day course. Patients then received the combination of daily erlotinib and temozolomide daily for 5 days for all subsequent 28-day courses.

Hearing loss, quality of life, and academic problems in long-term neuroblastoma survivors: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Objectives: Among a cohort of long-term neuroblastoma survivors, our aims were to (1) assess the association between treatment intensity and parent-reported hearing loss in the child, (2) evaluate the strength of the association between hearing loss and parent-reported academic and psychosocial difficulties in the child, and (3) examine the association between parent-reported academic and psychosocial difficulties in the child and the child's self-reported quality of life.

Patients And Methods: Through a mailed survey that included the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 and an outcomes questionnaire for parents, we evaluated 137 children (aged 8-17 years) who were previously enrolled in 1 of 2 Children's Cancer Group neuroblastoma clinical studies.

Radiotherapy for symptomatic metastases to bone in children.

Thirty-seven children less than age 19 years were treated from 1985 through 1998 with radiotherapy for symptomatic metastases to bone. The most common primary tumors were neuroblastoma (18), Ewing's sarcoma (5), and osteosarcoma (5). The interval from diagnosis of the primary tumor to treatment of the first symptomatic metastases involving bone ranged from 0 to 163 months (median 19).

High risk of subsequent neoplasms continues with extended follow-up of childhood Hodgkin's disease: report from the Late Effects Study Group.

Purpose: We present an update of a previously reported Late Effects Study Group cohort of 1,380 children with Hodgkin's disease (HD) diagnosed between 1955 and 1986 in patients aged 16 years or younger. We describe the pattern and incidence of subsequent neoplasms (SNs) occurring with extended follow-up.

Patients And Methods: Median age at diagnosis of HD was 11.

Education, employment, insurance, and marital status among 694 survivors of pediatric lower extremity bone tumors: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study.

Background: With increasing numbers of childhood cancer survivors, direct sequelae of cancer therapy and psychosocial outcomes are becoming more important. The authors described psychosocial outcomes (education, employment, health insurance, and marriage) for survivors of pediatric lower extremity bone tumors.

Methods: The long-term follow-up study of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study is a multiinstitutional cohort study comprising 14,054 individuals who have survived for 5 or more years after treatment for cancer diagnosed during childhood or adolescence.

Utilization of special education services and educational attainment among long-term survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: The objective of the current report was to compare the self-reported rates of special education (SE) and educational attainment among specific groups of childhood cancer survivors and a random sample of sibling controls.

Methods: The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study is a retrospective cohort of individuals who were diagnosed with a cancer in childhood and survived at least 5 years postdiagnosis. This analysis includes 12,430 survivors and 3410 full siblings.

New cytogenetic variant, insertion (15;17)(q22;q12q21), in an adolescent with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

We present the case of a 15-year-old female with acute promyelocytic leukemia and a new variant chromosome rearrangement identified as ins(15;17)(q22;q12q21) by conventional cytogenetic analysis. This finding was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization using the PML-RARA DNA probe and whole chromosome paints 15 and 17. A typical PML-RARA fusion transcript consistent with a breakpoint in intron 3 of the PML gene and intron 2 of the RARA gene was identified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.