( e. Patients with a history of rela...)Childhood Survivors Of Brain Tumors More At Risk For Strokes Later In Life,Health

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Patients with a history of relapse of their cancer were at a greater risk for stroke, likely a result of increased radiation treatment, the researchers concluded.

The effects of late-occurring strokes, which can be life-threatening or result in permanent or severe disability, can be particularly devastating in these cases because they often hit when the childhood cancer survivors are reaching early adulthood – in their late 20s and early 30s.

"Many people think, 'You're five years out from your cancer, you must be cured, and you can get on with the rest of your life.' But these patients suddenly develop a new complication of the cancer and its treatments," Dr. Bowers said.

UT Southwestern is one of 26 sites participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivors Study on long-term side effects for cancer survivors. Children's Medical Center Dallas is also a member and contributed patients to the study. The study established a database of information on some 14,000 patients who survived at least five years after being diagnosed with cancer during childhood. The national database includes about 4,000 leukemia survivors and about 1,700 survivors of brain tumors.

Dr. Bowers has been culling through the data involving strokes, and previously discovered a greater stroke risk for survivors of Hodgkin disease.

Brain tumors and leukemia might seem like apples and oranges because leukemia is a bone - marrow cancer and brain cancers are by definition tumors in the brain.

"But they are similar in important ways," Dr. Bowers noted. "They both are most likely to occur in young childhood, and both groups also get targeted radiation therapy to the brain."

The current treatment regiments for brain tumors and leukemia are aimed at reducing the use of radiation therapy, a move designed to lessen learning problems associated with radiation therapy.

"It would be interesting to see whether it m
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