RxPG News Feed for RxPG News

Medical Research Health Special Topics World
  Home
 
   Health
 Aging
 Asian Health
 Events
 Fitness
 Food & Nutrition
 Happiness
 Men's Health
 Mental Health
 Occupational Health
 Parenting
 Public Health
 Sleep Hygiene
 Women's Health
 
   Healthcare
 Africa
 Australia
 Canada Healthcare
 China Healthcare
 India Healthcare
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 UK
 USA
 World Healthcare
 
   Latest Research
 Aging
 Alternative Medicine
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
  Bladder
  Blood
  Bone Cancer
  Brain
  Breast Cancer
  Carcinogens
  Cervical Cancer
  Colon
  Endometrial
  Esophageal
  Gastric Cancer
  Liver Cancer
  Lung
  Nerve Tissue
  Ovarian Cancer
  Pancreatic Cancer
  Prostate Cancer
  Rectal Cancer
  Renal Cell Carcinoma
  Risk Factors
  Skin
  Testicular Cancer
  Therapy
   Pharmacotherapy
   Radiotherapy
   Vaccination
  Thyroid
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Epidemiology
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
 Medicine
 Metabolism
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Physiotherapy
 Psychiatry
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
 Sports Medicine
 Surgery
 Toxicology
 Urology
 
   Medical News
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
   Special Topics
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate

Last Updated: Oct 11, 2012 - 10:22:56 PM
Radiotherapy Channel

subscribe to Radiotherapy newsletter
Latest Research : Cancer : Therapy : Radiotherapy

   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Irradiation impairs reading development of young children

Aug 20, 2005 - 4:30:00 PM
"This study significantly adds to our understanding of the long-term neurocognitive development of these children. It also helps us develop and test intervention programs that aim at reducing the deficits these children experience," said Shawna Palmer, Ph.D.

 
[RxPG] Irradiation therapy for the brain cancer medulloblastoma is more likely to impair IQ and reading skills of younger children than older children even if the dose of radiation is reduced, according to the results of the largest study of its kind, conducted by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Texas Children's Cancer Center (Houston) and Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne, Australia).

The researchers found that the greatest rates of decline in IQ and reading skills occurred in patients who were younger than 7 years old at diagnosis. Patients who were at either high or average risk of treatment failure suffered significant loss of reading skills over time following treatment.

The study used "risk-adapted" radiation therapy in which the dose of radiation was adjusted according to whether the patient's cancer had already spread and how much tumor was left following initial surgery to remove the cancer. Patients in the study were classified as high risk (HR, 37 patients) or average risk (AR, 74 patients) depending on whether they had those risk factors. HR patients were considered more likely to experience treatment failure and therefore received higher doses of radiation.

The loss of reading and spelling skills among both AR and HR children apparently is caused by impairments of the fundamental cognitive processes that are critical to the early development of these skills in a child, according to Amar Gajjar, M.D., a member of the Hematology-Oncology department and director of Neuro-Oncology at St. Jude. Gajjar is the senior author of a report on this study that appears in the August 20 issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In addition to confirming that younger age increases the risk of neurocognitive deficits, the current study also allowed the researchers to develop a way to predict the number of IQ points that would be lost by both HR and AR patients depending on whether they were older (at least 7 years of age) or younger (less than 7 years) at time of diagnosis and treatment.

The investigators are now using results of this study to identify and help children in need of special training to enhance their cognitive functioning following treatment for medulloblastoma.

The study, which included 111 children (age 3-20 at time of diagnosis), was unprecedented because it followed a larger number of patients than any previous such investigation, Gajjar said. In addition, the investigators conducted neurocognitive testing of children for up to six years after diagnosis--that is, both before and after treatment, he added. Moreover, no other such previous prospective study (a study following patients over the course of time) has compared the outcome of children receiving risk-adapted radiation therapy doses.

Risk-adapted treatment included surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed within 28 days by initial post-operative craniospinal irradiation therapy (CSI) plus a radiation therapy "boost" to the primary (original) tumor site delivered by 3-D conformal radiation therapy (CRT). Six weeks after completion of radiation therapy, children underwent four rounds of chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, cisplatin and vincristine. The investigators observed the patients every three months for two years and every six months thereafter for a total of five years.

CRT combines CAT scans and MRI to create pictures of the cancer that a computer then turns into three-dimensional images of the tumor. These images are combined with computer-controlled radiation beams and meticulous positioning of the treatment table on which the patient lies. Radiation hits the tumor at precisely calculated angles and depths matching the 3-D image of the tumor, obliterating the cancer and sparing healthy tissue.

All children underwent neurocognitive testing after surgery and at approximately one, two and five years after diagnosis. The IQ of the 104 patients who were at least 3 years old was evaluated using the age-appropriate Wechsler Intelligence Scale; and academic achievement was measured in patients at least 5 years of age using a variety of tests that measured reading, math and spelling skills.

"This study significantly adds to our understanding of the long-term neurocognitive development of these children. It also helps us develop and test intervention programs that aim at reducing the deficits these children experience," said Shawna Palmer, Ph.D., one of two lead neuropsychologists on the study.



Publication: August 20 issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology
On the web: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 

Advertise in this space for $10 per month. Contact us today.


Related Radiotherapy News
Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) Could Improve Cancer Treatment
Radiotherapy timings for colon cancer may need adjustments
Irradiation impairs reading development of young children
Helical Tomotherapy : Most Advanced form of Image-Guided Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy
Electronic Brachytherapy : The Next Generation Radiotherapy
A Technologically Advanced Tool for Difficult-to-Treat Cancers
Timing appears essential to combining antiangiogenesis and radiation therapy

Subscribe to Radiotherapy Newsletter

Enter your email address:


 Additional information about the news article
Other authors of the study include Raymond K. Mulhern, Thomas E. Merchant, Dana Wallace, Mehmet Kocak, Vida L. Tyc, Larry Kun and James Boyett (St. Jude); Murali Chintagumpala, Pim Brouwers, Kevin Krull (Texas Children's Cancer Center); David Ashley and Robyn Stargatt (Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia).

This work was supported in part by Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, the Noyes Foundation, a Cancer Center Support grant, the National Cancer Institute and ALSAC.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fund-raising organization. For more information, please visit www.stjude.org
 Feedback
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 
Contact us

RxPG Online

Nerve

 

    Full Text RSS

© All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited (India)