Breast Cancer Screening Among Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated Without Chest Radiation: Clinical Benefits and Cost-Effectiveness

Implementation of a clinical long-term follow-up database for adult childhood cancer survivors in Germany: a feasibility study at two specialised late effects clinics

PURPOSE

Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk for increased morbidity and reduced quality of life associated with treatment-related late effects. In Germany, however, only a few of the more than 40,000 CCS registered in the German Childhood Cancer Registry (GCCR) currently benefit from adequate clinical long-term follow-up (LTFU) structures. To establish a comprehensive knowledge base on CCS' long-term health in Germany, a database was developed in cooperation with the GCCR. Following a first evaluation phase at two German university centres, this database will be implemented more widely within Germany allowing longitudinal documentation of clinical LTFU data.

METHODS

The feasibility study cohort comprised 208 CCS aged 18 or older whose medical, mental and psychosocial health data were collected during routine LTFU or first clinic visits in adult care. CCS were enrolled from 04/2021 to 12/2022, and data entry was completed by 03/2023. Descriptive data analysis was conducted. All CCS were stratified into three risk groups (RG) based on their individual risk for developing late effects resulting from their respective diagnoses and treatments.

RESULTS

Chronic health conditions of various organ systems associated with late and long-term effects of cancer therapy affected CCS in all RG supporting the clinical relevance of risk-adapted LTFU. Enrolment into the database was feasible and broadly accepted amongst CCS.

CONCLUSION

Implementation of a clinical follow-up care infrastructure and database in Germany will pave the way to collect clinically evaluated and regularly updated health data of potentially over 40,000 German CCS and facilitate future national and international cooperation.

Breast cancer after thoracic radiotherapy in young patients: what does the radiologist need to know?

Radiation-induced secondary tumors constitute a rare complication of radiation therapy and typically occur in or near the irradiated area. Women who undergo thoracic radiotherapy before 30 years of age have a significantly greater lifetime risk of developing breast cancer than do those in the general population. It is recommended that a patient who has previously received thoracic radiotherapy with a radiation dose ≥ 10 Gy subsequently undergo annual screening with mammography and magnetic resonance imaging, beginning eight years after the initial treatment or when the patient has reached 25 years of age (whichever comes later). The treatment of secondary breast cancer in this population should be individualized and should be discussed with a multidisciplinary team to avoid toxicity related to the treatment of the primary cancer.

Childhood Cancer Survivors' Adherence to Healthcare Recommendations Made Through a Distance-Delivered Survivorship Program

Purpose

Ongoing survivorship care allows childhood cancer survivors the opportunity to address treatment-related health problems and improve their quality of life. However, many survivors do not adhere to their healthcare professionals’ recommendations and the factors supporting their adherence remain unclear.

Patients and Methods

Long-term childhood cancer survivors completed the “Re-engage” program, which assessed survivors’ heath needs and provided individualised recommendations for health interventions and surveillance developed by an expert multi-disciplinary team (MDT). We measured survivors’ recall of, and adherence to, their individualised healthcare recommendations at one and six months post-intervention. We conducted a series of univariate negative binomial regressions to investigate factors associated with the total number of recommendations that were correctly recalled and adhered to.

Results

We analysed the data of 25 childhood cancer survivors who participated in Re-engage (mean age = 31.9 years). On average, survivors were provided with 6.6 recommendations (range = 1–11). Survivors accurately recalled receiving 3.0 recommendations at one month post-intervention and 1.9 at six months. Survivors had adhered to an average of 1.3 recommendations by six-month follow-up. In total, 56% of participants reported that they did not adhere to any recommendations. By six-month follow-up, greater adherence to MDT recommendations was associated with having a history of a second cancer (B = 1.391; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.686 to 2.097; p < 0.001) and reporting a greater level of worry about late effects (B = 1.381; 95% CI, 0.494 to 2.269; p = 0.002).

Conclusion

Survivors reported sub-optimal levels of adherence and demonstrated limited recall of their healthcare recommendations. Effective communication of recommendations and clear discussion of barriers limiting adherence, coupled with late effects education, may be critical to ensure that survivors engage with their recommendations, to improve their quality of life and health outcomes.

Trial Registration Number

ACTRN12618000194268.

Subsequent primary cancer risk among five-year survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers

BACKGROUND

A comprehensive examination of the incidence and mortality of subsequent primary cancers (SPCs) among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors in the US is lacking.

METHODS

Cancer incidence and mortality among 170,404 ≥ 5-year cancer survivors aged 15-39 years at first primary cancer diagnosis during 1975-2013 in 9 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries were compared to those in the general population using standardized incidence ratio (SIR), absolute excess incidence (AEI), standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and absolute excess mortality (AEM).

RESULTS

During a mean follow-up of 14.6 years, 13,420 SPC cases and 5,008 SPC deaths occurred among survivors (excluding the same-site as index cancer), corresponding to 25% higher incidence (95%CI = 1.23-1.27; AEI = 10.8 per 10,000) and 84% higher mortality (95%CI = 1.79-1.89; AEM = 9.2 per 10,000) than that in the general population. Overall SPC risk was statistically significantly higher for 20 of 29 index cancers for incidence and 26 for mortality, with the highest SIR among female Hodgkin lymphoma survivors (SIR = 3.05, 95%CI = 2.88-3.24; AEI = 73.0 per 10,000) and the highest SMR among small intestine cancer survivors (SMR = 6.97, 95%CI = 4.80-9.79; AEM = 64.1 per 10,000). Type-specific SPC risks varied substantially by index cancers; however, SPCs of the female breast, lung, and colorectum combined constituted 36% of all SPC cases and 39% of all SPC deaths, with lung cancer alone representing 11% and 24% of all cases and deaths, respectively.

CONCLUSION

AYA cancer survivors are almost twice as likely to die from a new primary cancer as the general population, highlighting the need for primary care clinicians to prioritize cancer prevention and targeted surveillance strategies in these individuals.

Landscape of germline cancer predisposition mutations testing and management in pediatrics: Implications for research and clinical care

As germline genetic testing capacities have improved over the last two decades, increasingly more people are newly diagnosed with germline cancer susceptibility mutations. In the wake of this growth, there remain limitations in both testing strategies and translation of these results into morbidity- and mortality-reducing practices, with pediatric populations remaining especially vulnerable. To face the challenges evoked by an expanding diversity of germline cancer mutations, we can draw upon a model cancer-associated genetic condition for which we have developed a breadth of expertise in managing, Trisomy 21. We can additionally apply advances in other disciplines, such as oncofertility and pharmacogenomics, to enhance care delivery. Herein, we describe the history of germline mutation testing, epidemiology of known germline cancer mutations and their associations with childhood cancer, testing limitations, and future directions for research and clinical care.