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Erin Thibault
UWRT-1102-090
Dagher
05 December 2014
Late Effects of Pediatric Cancer
In June of 2012, I had the pleasure of meeting a two year old named Christopher who
showed me the true meaning of being a fighter. Christopher was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma,
a form a pediatric cancer, when he was just eight months old. At the time I met him and his
family, he had just been diagnosed with a second tumor a week earlier after being in remission
for almost a year. Through teary eyes his mother explained to me that the second tumor, along
with the hearing aids he wore, and a slew of other cognitive issues were late effects from the
different treatments he received while being treated for the cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer had
spread too rapidly and Christopher lost his second battle on January 25, 2013.
The survival rate today for children diagnosed with pediatric cancer is around eighty
percent, the highest it has ever been (PBS News Hour). It is amazing to see how far pediatric
cancer treatments have come, but doctor Robert Goldsby, a pediatric oncologist says, the good
news is more people are surviving cancer, the bad news is those that survive more than half have
a long-term issue (PBS News Hour). Long-term, or late effects, are described as health issues
that can cause problems within the bodys organ and tissue systems after cancer treatment has
ended ( National Cancer Institute 2). Children are our future, so this issue effects each and every
one of us. It is unbelievable that even after beating cancer, these children have to battle with the
late effects of treatments for the rest of their lives.

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Offinger and Robinson state that although some long term effects are issues that would
not have occurred without the original cancer and the treatments that accompanied it, some
complications may be just exaggerations of diseases or health problems the individual was
already at risk for (2763). Children with cancer are treated with the same therapies as adults
diagnosed with cancer, they are just given in lower doses (Boklan 1906). This worries me due to
the fact that childhood cancers behave differently, and they usually spread more rapidly (Boklan
1906). The main question this raises for me is, would the late effects be less significant if
children were treated with therapies specifically designed for pediatric patients? Secondary
tumors are a huge, life changing effect, but there are a plethora of other serious issues that can
have negative effects on the quality of life of childhood cancer survivors. These complications
include issues with the cardiovascular, central nervous, digestion, endocrine, and immune
systems of the body. The most common long term effect of pediatric cancer treatment is hearing
loss that may occur immediately, or progress over time (National Cancer Institute 41). This
raises many questions about why this is the most common late effect. Is there a certain chemical
that makes this occur?
Although the physical effects may be the ones that first come to mind, the psychological
ones can be just as devastating. Psychological effects describe the feelings, thoughts, behaviors,
and relationships. Like medical late effects, psychological late effects can occur a year or two
after treatment, but they may not even begin to emerge until many years after treatment ends
(Schwartz 295). Being treated for cancer at a young age, can significantly affect the childs
social life drastically. The emotional distress they suffered can cause Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) and make it hard to have friends because thinking or talking about the
experience can cause anxiety. (Schwartz 297). This statement causes me to wonder if children

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are given counseling throughout the treatment process, and if the age of the child at diagnosis is
of significance.
It is apparent that being treated for pediatric cancer treatment does cause late or long term
effects. I believe that these problems negatively impact the childs quality of life, and that is not
something we should just turn the other cheek about. I think its time to step up and try to
understand why these effects occur, and how to prevent it. I am curious about if it is a few
specific chemicals that cause the issues, or if it is possibly the way the chemicals are mixed. If I
were to continue my inquiry I would research why the effects occur only after completion of
treatment and not during the actual treatment process. Moving forward, the next step is to start
researching new cancer treatments designed for children and beginning trails with these
treatment options.
Every child deserves to live the best life possible. Children diagnosed with cancer already
have to experience more hardships than they should have to, and it is unacceptable that their
struggles continue even after they beat the disease. Great strides have been taken to increase the
odds of childhood cancer survival, now we need to pay attention to how these treatments are
effecting children later in life. For now, it is important that patients are informed about the risk of
late effects and they continue with appropriate after care (Offinger and Robinson 2763). If there
is continued awareness raised, and proper attention given to this issue, one day there will be no
such thing as being sick even after you beat cancer.

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Works Cited
Boklan, J. "Little Patients, Losing Patience: Pediatric Cancer Drug Development." Molecular Cancer
Therapeutics 5.8 (2006): 1905-908. Print. 12 Sept. 2014.
"Late Effects of Treatment for Childhood Cancer (PDQ)." National Cancer Institute. National Institute of
Health, n.d. (1-50) Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/lateeffects/Patient>.
Oeffinger, Kevin C, and Leslie L. Robison. "Childhood Cancer Survivors, Late Effects, and a New Model for
Understanding Survivorship." Jama: Journal of the American Medical Association. 297.24 (2007):
2762-64. Print.
PBS News Hour. "Pediatric Cancer Survivors Face Additional Health Challenges." YouTube. YouTube, 30
June 2014. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.
Schwartz, Cindy L. Survivors of Childhood and Adolescent Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Berlin:
Springer, 2005: 295-305. Internet resource.