Factors that influence the further survival of patients who survive for five years after the diagnosis of cancer in childhood or adolescence

Abstract

To evaluate the further survival, and to identify disease and treatment factors which influence the further survival, of five-year survivors of cancer diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, we reviewed the courses of 591 previously untreated patients who were less than 20 years of age at diagnosis and survived for five years after diagnosis. Fifty-three of 143 patients who experienced disease recurrence during the first five years after diagnosis died during the period of observation, compared to 18 of 448 patients who did not experience disease recurrence during the first five years after diagnosis. The sex-specific standardized mortality ratios for the group of patients who never relapsed or relapsed more than five years after diagnosis were not significantly different from those of the New York State population. Cox proportional hazards modelling of the subgroup of patients who relapsed during the first five years after diagnosis demonstrated that disease which was treated surgically, a diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease or acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and older age at diagnosis were significantly associated with further survival in this group, whereas similar modelling of the patients who did not experience disease recurrence during the first five years after diagnosis failed to identify any variables which were associated with continued survival. The results of this study suggest that childhood and adolescent cancer patients who survive for five years without disease recurrence have a survival rate similar to that of the general population. Continued follow-up of this cohort is required to determine if the present findings can still be demonstrated as the majority of the cohort ages beyond 35 years of age.