Young Cancer Survivors Have Higher Risk of Severe Health Problems Later
2020-02-26
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1People who survive cancer during childhood and early adulthood are more likely to experience severe, life-threatening health problems later on in life.
2In fact, many of the survivors die before other people the same age.
3Those are findings from a recent study.
4A report on the study was published this month in The Lancet Oncology.
5Researchers followed almost 12,000 young cancer survivors and about 5,000 of their siblings for about 20 years.
6All of these relatives were said to be in good health.
7The cancer survivors were free of the disease for at least five years at the start of the study.
8Yet they were still about six times more likely to die during the follow-up period than their siblings.
9Tara Henderson was the lead writer of the report.
10She noted, "Before 1960, cancer before the age of 21 years was uniformly fatal, and currently about 83% of anyone diagnosed with cancer before the age of 21 years can be cured."
11Henderson is director of cancer survivorship at the University of Chicago's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
12She said that doctors need to put more effort into learning the long-term side effects of cancer treatment.
13The Reuters news agency reported her comments.
14Better survival chances also mean children may have a higher risk of developing health problems as a result of tumors or cancer treatments.
15The problems include heart disease, old cancers returning or possible new cancers.
16Many doctors turn to chemotherapy to treat cancer patients.
17They use drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing.
18Yet chemotherapy can weaken the heart muscle and some newer targeted medicines increase the risk of heart failure.
19So says the American Heart Association.
20The group also notes that radiation can cause heart rhythm disorders and structural damage in blood vessels and heart valves.
21By age 45, 56 percent of the childhood cancer survivors diagnosed with the disease before age 15 had developed severe health problems.
22That compares with 39 percent of survivors diagnosed while growing up or in early adulthood and 12 percent of siblings without any history of cancer.
23Death rates were also higher for cancer survivors diagnosed during childhood than for those diagnosed during adolescence or early adulthood.
24However, survivors of childhood cancer were less likely to die from returning tumors than survivors who were diagnosed a little later.
25Researchers followed people diagnosed with cancer between 1970 and 1999.
26They found that it is possible that long-term results might be better for people diagnosed today because of better treatments.
27The researchers said that is partly because of changes designed to improve survival chances and decrease the risk of severe treatment-related health problems.
28One limitation of the study is that researchers lacked information on three kinds of cancer: tumors in the gonads, thyroid, and skin.
29Those three make up about 40 percent of cancers discovered in 15-to 20-year-olds.
30Päivi Lähteenmäki is a doctor with Turku University in Finland and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
31She noted that, "Some cancer-related complications do not become apparent until several years following cancer treatment."
32In an email to Reuters, she urged cancer patients to "adopt a healthy lifestyle to help make severe or life-threatening medical issues less likely to develop."
33She added that patients can do a number of things, including exercising, eating well, not smoking and keeping a healthy body weight.
34I'm Jonathan Evans.
1People who survive cancer during childhood and early adulthood are more likely to experience severe, life-threatening health problems later on in life. In fact, many of the survivors die before other people the same age. 2Those are findings from a recent study. A report on the study was published this month in The Lancet Oncology. 3Researchers followed almost 12,000 young cancer survivors and about 5,000 of their siblings for about 20 years. All of these relatives were said to be in good health. 4The cancer survivors were free of the disease for at least five years at the start of the study. Yet they were still about six times more likely to die during the follow-up period than their siblings. 5Tara Henderson was the lead writer of the report. She noted, "Before 1960, cancer before the age of 21 years was uniformly fatal, and currently about 83% of anyone diagnosed with cancer before the age of 21 years can be cured." 6Henderson is director of cancer survivorship at the University of Chicago's Comprehensive Cancer Center. She said that doctors need to put more effort into learning the long-term side effects of cancer treatment. The Reuters news agency reported her comments. 7Better survival chances also mean children may have a higher risk of developing health problems as a result of tumors or cancer treatments. The problems include heart disease, old cancers returning or possible new cancers. 8Many doctors turn to chemotherapy to treat cancer patients. They use drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. 9Yet chemotherapy can weaken the heart muscle and some newer targeted medicines increase the risk of heart failure. So says the American Heart Association. The group also notes that radiation can cause heart rhythm disorders and structural damage in blood vessels and heart valves. 10By age 45, 56 percent of the childhood cancer survivors diagnosed with the disease before age 15 had developed severe health problems. That compares with 39 percent of survivors diagnosed while growing up or in early adulthood and 12 percent of siblings without any history of cancer. 11Death rates were also higher for cancer survivors diagnosed during childhood than for those diagnosed during adolescence or early adulthood. 12However, survivors of childhood cancer were less likely to die from returning tumors than survivors who were diagnosed a little later. 13Researchers followed people diagnosed with cancer between 1970 and 1999. They found that it is possible that long-term results might be better for people diagnosed today because of better treatments. The researchers said that is partly because of changes designed to improve survival chances and decrease the risk of severe treatment-related health problems. 14One limitation of the study is that researchers lacked information on three kinds of cancer: tumors in the gonads, thyroid, and skin. Those three make up about 40 percent of cancers discovered in 15-to 20-year-olds. 15Päivi Lähteenmäki is a doctor with Turku University in Finland and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. She noted that, "Some cancer-related complications do not become apparent until several years following cancer treatment." 16In an email to Reuters, she urged cancer patients to "adopt a healthy lifestyle to help make severe or life-threatening medical issues less likely to develop." She added that patients can do a number of things, including exercising, eating well, not smoking and keeping a healthy body weight. 17I'm Jonathan Evans. 18Lisa Rapaport reported this story for the Reuters news service. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 19________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21adolescence - n. the period of life between childhood and adulthood 22diagnose - v. to recognize a disease, illness, etc. by examining someone 23fatal - adj. causing death 24gonads - n. sex organs that produce sperm or eggs; testicles or ovaries 25lifestyle - n. a particular way of living; the way a person lives or a group of people live 26tumor - n. a mass of tissue found in or on the body that is made up of abnormal cells