Survivors of childhood cancer have increased risk of gastrointestinal complications later in life

Abstract

Background & aims: Children who receive cancer therapy experience numerous acute gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities. However, the long-term GI consequences have not been extensively studied. We evaluated the incidence of long-term GI outcomes and identified treatment-related risk factors.

Methods: Upper GI, hepatic, and lower GI adverse outcomes were assessed in cases from participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, a study of 14,358 survivors of childhood cancer who were diagnosed between 1970 and 1986; data were compared with those from randomly selected siblings. The median age at cancer diagnosis was 6.8 years (range, 0-21.0 years), and the median age at outcome assessment was 23.2 years (5.6-48.9 years) for survivors and 26.6 years (1.8-56.2 years) for siblings. Rates of self-reported late GI complications (occurred 5 or more years after cancer diagnosis) were determined and associated with patient characteristics and cancer treatments, adjusting for age, sex, and race.

Results: Compared with siblings, survivors had increased risk of late-onset complications of the upper GI tract (rate ratio [RR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-2.0), liver (RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.8-2.5), and lower GI tract (RR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.7-2.2). The RRs for requiring colostomy/ileostomy, liver biopsy, or developing cirrhosis were 5.6 (95% CI, 2.4-13.1), 24.1 (95% CI, 7.5-77.8), and 8.9 (95% CI, 2.0-40.0), respectively. Older age at diagnosis, intensified therapy, abdominal radiation, and abdominal surgery increased the risk of certain GI complications.

Conclusions: Individuals who received therapy for cancer during childhood have an increased risk of developing GI complications later in life.

Figure 1

Cumulative incidence of GI conditions (Any = red, 2 or more = black) among 5 year survivors, with cumulative incidence [%] on the vertical axis and years since diagnosis on the horizontal axis.