Late effects of the treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

With current treatment protocols, over 90% of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are cured. Simultaneously with these excellent results, there is an increasing importance of the recognition of possible late effects of antileukemic treatment. The most frequent late effects of therapy for childhood ALL include endocrine abnormalities, obesity, growth disturbances, neurocognitive deficits, psychosocial adverse effects, cardiotoxicity, gonadotoxicity and reproductive changes, neurotoxicity, bone toxicity, secondary malignancies, and premature late mortality. Better recognition of late effects has resulted in the modifications of treatment regimens and development of guidelines for lifelong follow-up of survivors.