Multidisciplinary Late Effects Clinics for Childhood Cancer Survivors in Germany - a Two-Center Study

• DOI: 10.1159/000488203
• Publication Date: 2018-06-14T21:01:22Z
• Authors: Judith Gebauer; Sarah Rieken; Sonja Schuster; Birgit Hahn; Niklas Gebauer; Norbert Meidenbauer; Georg Brabant; Markus Metzler; Thorsten Langer
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Patient Care Team; Adolescent; Chemoradiotherapy; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Cancer Survivors; Medizinische Fakultät; Child, Preschool; Germany; Neoplasms; Humans; Female; Interdisciplinary Communication; ddc:610; Child; Follow-Up Studies

<b><i>Background</i></b>: Childhood cancer survivors are at risk for therapy-related sequelae and, therefore, require long-term follow-up. At 2 university hospitals in Germany collaborative multidisciplinary late effects clinics were installed to provide specialized care and to evaluate the current health status of these patients in a clinical setting. <b><i>Patients and</i></b><b><i>Methods</i></b>: Every patient who visited the late effects clinics at the university hospital in Lübeck and Erlangen over a period of 3 years and met the inclusion criteria was included in the study. Patients' characteristics as well as cancer diagnosis, treatment related factors and the prevalence of chronic health conditions were assessed. <b><i>Results</i></b>: 220 patients attended the late effects clinics during the observation period. The median follow-up period was 16 years (range 5-45 years). In total over 64% of the patients were affected by at least 1 chronic health condition, including endocrine disruptions in 19.1% of the patients. Moreover, secondary neoplasms occurred in 9.1% of the study participants. <b><i>Conclusion</i></b>: German childhood cancer survivors are affected by multiple therapy-related sequelae. A comprehensive network of late effects clinics should be established to ensure specialized and risk-adapted care for every childhood cancer survivor in Germany.