Childhood brain tumours survivors experience lasting cognitive, socioeconomic burdens: Study

People who survive brain tumours and undergo radiotherapy during childhood may experience cognitive and socioeconomic burdens even decades after treatment, find a new study.According to the study published in the journal 'Cancer', interventions such as cognitive therapies and educational and occupational services may be needed to mitigate such long-term effects.Therapies for children diagnosed with brain tumours have prolonged the lives of many patients, but survivors may experience a variety of effects from their disease and its treatment. To assess such burdens, M. Douglas Ris, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, and his colleagues at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, compared 181 survivors of pediatric low-grade glioma with 105 siblings of cancer survivors who were participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.The survivors and siblings all completed a comprehensive battery of standardised cognitive tests and socioeconomic assessments performed at .