Leukemia, lymphomas, tumors of the central nervous system, bones, retina … In France, each year, 1,500 children are affected by Cancer – little boys are also more at risk than little girls. Fortunately, thanks to advances in science, around 70% of them are cured *.
But according to a recent international study (published in the scientific journal JAMA Oncology), people who would have overcome cancer in childhood are more likely than others to develop health problems (both physical and mental) in adulthood.
Thus, Danish scientists followed 33,000 people who had been treated for cancer during their adolescence: during the time of the experiment (14 years), they observed an increase in hospitalizations of 38% compared to the average . Participants thus had a 69% increased risk of developing parasitic infections.
Leukemia, brain tumors and Hodgkin’s lymphoma
In addition, American scientists followed 80 pediatric cancer survivors for 25 years: they observed that these volunteers had more cognitive disorders than the others.
“We noticed that the cancers that left the most ‘traces’ were leukemia, brain tumors and Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” the researchers said. We hope that this work will encourage healthcare professionals to follow survivors more rigorously. ”
* source: Inserm, December 2010.